There’s a specific quote from Chris Stapleton that has always resonated with fellow Kentuckian and country star, Elvie Shane. “I heard Chris Stapleton say at one time, somebody cornered him after a set and was like, ‘How do you do all this?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know. I’m just trying to tell the truth as loud as I can,'” Shane recalls to American Songwriter. “It was just a passing statement, but it’s also such a Kentucky thing to say. So I’m just trying to tell the truth as loud as I can.”
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Shane is employing this model on his upcoming album, Damascus. The name stems from a story in the Bible wherein Paul travels the long road to Damascus and is ultimately baptized. Damascus is also the name of a brand of steel that is trademarked by its intricate lines that resemble flowing water. While pondering his next album, Shane thought about the journey of the Biblical figure and how he wanted to blend his many musical influences to tell a cohesive story.
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“Damascus is a type of steel where you take a bunch of different types of steel, you heat it up, you beat it together, and create this really beautiful blade. It’s really strong,” Shane explains. “Maybe I can pull all these different influences like I’m making a piece of Damascus steel and hopefully it comes out beautiful and strong.” What ties the project together is Shane’s desire to get to the truth. Since releasing his debut album Backslider in 2021, which contained his chart-topping debut single, “My Boy,” Shane says that he’s made a concerted effort to listen to others and learn from their stories.
“My first project was very selfish and autobiographical, but I have really been paying attention to people and listening to people talk after shows and trying to figure out how I can represent [them],” he expresses, citing “Forgotten Man” as a song inspired by the blue-collar workers in his hometown, as well as the struggles people in inner-cities face. “What really sparked me wanting to focus on people is seeing so much division at the surface, but when I really listen to people talk, I see so much in common. I think trying to tell stories from my perspective of other people’s lives and struggles that I’ve had, hopefully we’ll have a little bit of unity.”
Shane also hints that the songs on the album range from hip-hop to funk to country, with some Southern rock thrown in for good measure. He also wrote an original hymn that he describes as a “good ole boy hymn.” “I think everybody will be able to get a little bit of everything out of the album. It’s been really fun,” he says. “I just want people to give it a chance.”
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