Romantics and old souls often look back at the past and reminisce about a way of life that is arguably extinct. In roots music, that way of life typically encompasses the tropes of train-hopping, busking, and traveling around the United States in search of the next show and story. Yes, this way of life is somewhat obsolete; however, one person who pursued it and still believes in its existence to an extent is the frontman and founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show, Ketch Secor.
Videos by American Songwriter
The adventurous feelings residing in the souls of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley are ones that Secor has, and ones that many of the youth still certainly have today. Well, these feelings matched with an affinity for string music are what set Secor off on his bold adventure in his late teens and early 20s. As he set out “to get [his] degree…in kind of an age-old way.”
In his younger years, Secor traveled like an “old hobnobby” in an “old suit of armor” that “made [him] feel so fearless at the time.” As a result of this fearlessness, Secor took “relentless and unfathomably high” risks. It has now been years since those risks and that old suit of armor. Though, Secor recently put that suit back on while creating his debut solo album, Story The Crow Told Me.
Ketch Secor Remembers the Nashville That Was
At six years old, Ketch Secor visited Nashville for the very first time. Years and years later, it would become one of the many places the fiddle player cut his teeth. Years after that, it would become his home. That being so, Secor has seen the complete metamorphosis Nashville has undergone, and he analyzes it in the album’s singles “Dickerson Road” and “What Nashville Was”.
In a rather general sense, both singles exceptionally convey the booming growth Nashville has experienced. However, despite this growth, the past still exists, and to Secor, that past is what has seemingly led to this boom, the city’s continuous growth, and the allure residing in its streets.
While Secor noted the evident commerciality and the Las Vegas tones that embody present-day Nashville. He also acknowledged that its mystique and enticing nature have been years in the making. He profoundly stated, “A kind of new American religious experience that coming to Nashville is, you know, a way in which we seek to stand in the light of those who we perceive to have stood in it, and those people are Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and so many others…And if we can go stand in that light, maybe we’ll be, I don’t know, forgiven, renewed, accepted.” Secor added, “You know, we also just want to get drunk.”
A Colorful Collection of Unfamiliar Sounds
Other than this being his debut solo album, what also sets this album apart from Secor’s work with OCMS is the new sounds he features on it. We won’t spoil how and where he uses them, as you’ll have to figure that out for yourself, but just know he does so in a fresh and seamlessly integrative manner.
While these sounds are not what OCMS and Secor are known for, they are sounds that Secor has “been painting with [his] whole life.” Nevertheless, Secor still had the ever-so-common rush of fear after he created the album.
“I had a powerful sense after I made the record of ‘Oh sh—t. I can’t release this,’” divulged Secor. That swift surge of fear might just be a good sign, as it seemingly means Secor is doing something relatively new and fairly uncomfortable.
Visiting The Past…
Ketch Secor sheds light on the Nashville that was and repurposes sounds of his youth for the present, and that is arguably the premier aspect of this album—The revisiting of the past, and not just his own. Concerning his motivation to do a solo record about his coming-of-age tale, Secor stated, “I wanted to sort of tell it my way.”
On the album, Secor enters his castle of memories and revisits the years and choices that brought him to now. Why does he do so? Well, that is a highly loaded question that is far too vast for one simple answer. Secor attested, “I guess I don’t really have a stock answer.” Regardless, the album itself is the mixing of Secor’s past, present, and the universality residing within it. Other than merely featuring these notions in the lyrics, he also embedded them in the creation of the music itself. Specifically, Secor featured former OCMS band members, Critter Fuqua and Willie Watson, and creatively used samples from both Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.
In addition to introspectively exploring his past and relating it to the whole, Secor performs an action with this album that he believes is a necessity. That necessity—”We have a dutiful service to one another to make sure that the next generations know what used to be on this block.”
Ketch Secor’s debut solo album, Story The Crow Told Me, is out this Friday, July 11, 2025. To see the string picker live, check out his website here.
Photo Credit Jody Stevens
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.