GTC DEEP CUTS: GRANT LANGSTON I Work Too Hard
Grant Langston I Work Too Hard is available on Hope You’re Happy Now
by Walter Price
Speaking to his 2015 on the verge of sardonic if not melancholic LP, “Hope You’re Happy Now“, purveyor of roots country Grant Langston has said, “I write a lot of ballads, and because of the crazy places I play and the kind of records I make, it’s hard to use those songs. I wanted to just slow things down and make a more reflective album of primarily darker material.” Mission accomplished.
There are Owens, Lovett, Nelson, and the like vibes throughout and, for the money, there’s no better place to start in on this near-hidden classic LP than track 10, “I Work Too Hard”. In the vein of Paycheck, this workingman’s (working-person?) tune is chockful of reflective vignettes. Scenes that include money not well spent, televised zombie killings, workplace aggravations, late-night party girls and what have ya. A multiperspective toe-tapper any paycheck to any paycheck-to-paycheck person can relate to.
Grant Langston certainly knows how to keep the against-the-modern-grain country music sound alive and “I Work Too Hard” is a darn good example of this. Or as I’ll quote the fine people over at Live at Lockett’s, “With one foot in the deep country music traditions of North Alabama and another in the Telecaster twang of California roots and Americana, Grant Langston is an artist who defies the typical toe tag of modern music.”. And how!… And you can stream the GTC Deep Cut now, at the GTC.
GRANT LANGSTON I Work Too Hard
Cover photo via Facebook // Quotes via Bandcamp and Live at Lockett’s YouTube
Hope You’re Happy Now (full credits)
Mixed by Mark Rains
Mastered by Rueben Cohen
Cover Photo by Duff Ferguson
Album Design by Christopher Friedman
website // facebook // instagram
“I put together a large band and did a show in Los Angeles where we played all of Willie’s Phases and Stages record in order. I got very familiar with the material and fell in love with his simplicity and subtlety. I decided that I should just follow my gut and make an old-school record that’s about quiet stories and steel guitars.” – G. Langston