Texan country and western superstar Charley Crockett is coming to Newcastle as part of his just-announced Australian summer tour.
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He's bringing with him his band The Blue Drifters and will be joined by soul singer Emma Donovan and alt-country troubadours Sweet Talk.
The poetic Crockett had this to say about his latest album, Live at the Rayman.
"Back when I was in my early 20s and just getting started with my music, I made my way to Nashville and took my first shot at busking on Broadway near the Ryman Auditorium. I knew from playing on the street in New Orleans that it's a good idea to stay close to the touristy parts of town, just not in the heaviest traffic.
"Over the next decade, I kept going back, crashing at the Drake Motel and trying to get onstage at the open mics, mostly passing through town without anyone ever learning my name. After a while I was afraid to even stand near the Ryman - I'd look down that alley that leads to Robert's Western World and think, 'I'm not supposed to be here'. I wanted to play on that stage so badly, but I didn't know how it would ever happen.
"That's what was running through my mind the night The Blue Drifters and I played the Ryman for the first time. About a third of the way into the set, just before my song The Valley, I said to the crowd 'The alley's just outside, but it's a long way from right here'.
"Selling out the Ryman for the first time is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and luckily my manager came up with the idea of filming the show. The crowd was truly something else, they stood up early on in the show and never sat back down again. It's like something otherworldly was going on. Like all those ghosts from out in the alley were up there onstage with us.
"The only thing I remember clearly from our two-hour set is what happened after we played the title track from my album Music City USA. When I played it, the crowd gave me a standing ovation and made so much noise that the band and I couldn't start the next song.
"It completely shocked me, but it made me realise that all those people understood what I was singing about - they were all in that room for the same damn reason I was. It's a feeling I won't forget for as long as I live."
