Charley Crockett | Artist
Matthew Charles "Charley" Crockett is an American blues, country, and Americana singer, guitarist, and songwriter born 1984 in San Benito, Texas. After leaving high school Crockett decided to travel with his guitar acquired by his mother from a pawn shop. In Crockett's own words "I taught myself how to play and started to write songs immediately, without any chord knowledge or anything. I didn't know what key I was in for 12 years, but my ear was really good, and I could play in any key and any chord". He started out played on the streets in the French Quarter of New Orleans and in Deep Ellum, Dallas as a teenager. Later he traveled further afield by hitchhiking and riding freight, and by 2009 he was busking in New York City. Eventually tired of life on the streets Crockett relocated to Northern California, where he combined working on farms and communes with performing for three more years. He then existed on the streets in Paris, France, for a year, and briefly lived in Spain and Morocco. Crockett's career finally took hold in 2015 when he returned to Texas and self-released his debut album A Stolen Jewel which landed him the Dallas Observer Music Award for Best Blues Act. His next release, 2016's blues-dominated In The Night, began to attract attention from music critics and listeners alike. In The Night contained a selection of Crockett-penned numbers, along with a cover of his hometown hero Freddy Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights". Fort Worth Star-Telegram hailed the album as "an impressive calling card, full of Crockett's plaintive soulfulness and swinging tempos". Over the next decade Crockett has released an impressive catalogue of 13 studio albums, all of consistently high standard. Standouts include In the Night (2016), Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza (2018), The Valley (2019), Welcome to Hard Times (2020), and $10 Cowboy (2024). In September 2023, Crockett released Live From The Ryman an album and concert film of his sold-out headline debut at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium recorded on November 14, 2022. He was also the 2023 recipient of the Stephen Bruton Award at The Lone Star Film Festival. In September 2023, Crockett was nominated for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year at the 2023 Americana Music Honors & Awards. Crockett, who was raised by a single mother in a trailer park in Los Fresnos, Texas, is a descendant of Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersmen and an Alamo defender.
Artist Website: charleycrockett.com
Featured Albums: Charley Crockett
Related Artists: Leon Bridges, T Bone Burnett
