If you are an Americana fan and are unfamiliar with Charley Crockett, then you should probably change that, as this man is the epitome of the genre. Now, if you rewind the clock to 30 years back, then he would have just been the epitome of country music, but all Americana and alt-country music fans know true country music now resides in these two genres.
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Regardless of the genre tags placed upon Crockett, he is the real deal. Scoring an aesthetically nostalgic look matched with a nostalgically fresh voice, Crockett’s music is as traditional as traditional music itself. His culmination of jazz, country, folk, and blues is simply impeccable and reminds one that there still are musicians who can make original sounds with instruments, not with producing.
With all that in mind, Crockett has cited that his major inspirations include Willie Nelson, Freddie Fender, Bob Dylan, and in general, every American musician who has added to the colorful musical collective. That being so, Crockett has paid homage to such musicians by performing covers of their songs, and he did so for the classic country musician Ernest Tubb in 2018.
Charley Crockett Covers Ernest Tubb’s “Driving Nails in My Coffin”
Originally sung by Jerry Irby in 1945, Tubb made “Driving Nails in My Coffin” a hit song just a year later in 1946, as it peaked at No. 5 on the folk chart. Given its quality, the post-WW2 country folk song has lived on for years, as it has been covered by a plethora of different artists. Some of those notable artists include Willie Nelson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, the Osborne Brothers, and Rhonda Vincent.
If you couldn’t tell by the names listed, the only people to cover this song are musicians who are true students of the country folk genre. It’s not for the chart-toppers. Hence, Charley Crockett covered the song in 2018 on Houston Public Media. Previously, Crockett had actually released the song on his 2016 album, A Stolen Jewel.
In the live performance, Crockett infuses country, gospel, jazz, and even a little bit of zydeco music as there is an accompanying accordion. Both the live performance and the recorded one are a fresh re-imaging of a traditional song, and in essence, they each show that Charley Crockett can rebrand the old with a little shade of the new. He is truly a musician who lives between two timelines.
Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images
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