The Red Clay Strays bring fire and brimstone to country music

In the depths of the River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina, a large tour bus is parked outside the tiny Gray Eagle where the Red Clay Strays are set to play a sold-out show that night. The band's coach is so tall that it hides the space behind it from street view—a visual metaphor for the Mobile, Alabama band's rapid rise.

It was October 2023. Fast forward to now, and the Red Clay Strays have just been forced to move their next show in Asheville, scheduled for April 28, from the 1,050-capacity Orange Peel to the outdoor Rabbit Rabbit Stage. lid. 4,200. It's sold out too.

Guitarist Drew Nix is ​​nonchalant. “All I see are little goals that we're trying to achieve from here to wherever we're trying to get to,” he says Rolling rock. “It's never, 'make it big'.”

Despite Nix's protest, that's exactly where the band is.

Bursting from the red clay of their homeland that gives the Red Clay Strays their name, the band is the musical manifestation of the push and pull between salvation and redemption. Their sound is Delta blues, gritty honky-tonk and Sun Records rockabilly, with a palpable darkness – call the result “gothic country”. Lead singer Brandon Coleman's fire and brimstone vocals tie it all together and hint at the undercurrent of faith that runs through the band.

“God has come through in many different ways. I had faith that he would, but I didn't know if he would,” Coleman says with piercing eyes. “Boom, that happened. Boom, that's it. It didn't happen overnight, obviously. We've been doing it for years.”

The Red Clay Strays emerged from the ashes of a cover band in Mobile in 2016. This original group featured Coleman with Andrew Bishop on bass. Nix made the booking. In the end, the trio regrouped, bringing in drummer John Hall and guitarist Zach Rishel.

“We started playing wherever it took us, playing parties, playing covers and sprinkling in originals – more and more people kept listening and kept coming back to shows,” says Coleman.

A towering presence at six feet, the singer commands the microphone like a charismatic preacher in the pulpit. Beads of sweat drip down his furrowed brow. His glossy hair is undone, harkening back to the early, dangerous days of Elvis Presley, a lifelong influence on Coleman.

“When I heard [Brandon] to sing for the first time, it was 'I'm gonna get him in front of as many people as I can.'” says Nix. “She has a great voice – it's pure power and control.”

Listen to “Moment of Truth” from Strays' 2022 self-titled album to get an idea of ​​what Nix is ​​talking about. Coleman's razor rattles the melody to its core. “Why do I do all these things I shouldn't do?/Why do I trip when I'm anywhere near you?” she sings.

“It's self-expression. I sing each song a little differently every night, depending on the show and how I'm feeling,” says Coleman. “I don't really bond with the band on stage because I'm locked into the crowd. And that's how you know when you've got a good band — [they’re] holding it down and you can just focus on the crowd.”

Red Clay Strays was released independently The moment of truth in 2022; Now signed to indie powerhouse Thirty Tigers, they're heading to record the follow-up with producer Dave Cobb. At first, The moment of truth just bubbles below the surface. Then the love-filled song “Wondering Why” caught fire on TikTok and streaming services and gave the band a Hot 100 charting single. To date, the track has more than 60 million streams on Spotify.

In conversation – over whiskey as it is tonight at the Gray Eagle – the members aren't shy about talking about the shared spirituality that binds the band. On stage, however, they let the songs, written mostly by Nix and Coleman's brother Matthew, an unofficial Strays member, do the talking.

Return to “Moment of Truth”. “If I can't be fair/If I can't see the temptation within/I'll ​​face my judgment at the moment of truth,” Coleman sings.

“It's just soul,” says Bishop. “[A lot of] Soul singers come out of Alabama. There is also a heavy blues influence in Alabama. It is one of the most religious Christian countries. There's a lot of gospel, and that's where Brandon came from — he was born with it.”

It's those roots that make Coleman such a powerful vessel for delivering Nix's lyrics, which are often full of turmoil.

Nix says he's actually a happy guy. “[The songs] take me back to those times when I was in a bad place,” he says. “One day, I decided I didn't want to be [there] any longer. Well, you write about it. It's a bonus when other people can feel that way and feel like they're not alone.”

Fans clearly connect with something about the group's brand of country and rock. Shows continue to sell out and festival appearances are underway for the summer (they wowed audiences at Under the Big Sky festival last July). They will open for the Turnpike Troubadours at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado in May and headline the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in September. tickets for the Ryman show sold out so quickly that the group added two more nights, which also sold out.

“We all feel extremely driven,” says Rishel. “That's what we're here to do – there's no purpose more important in our lives than to make this band the biggest and best thing it can be.”

Stepping off the tour bus, the Red Clay Strays enter the Gray Eagle's green room through a back door as raucous voices and stomping begin to fill the low-ceilinged sardine can space. The band's “must-see” reputation has caught on.

“We're just looking for someone who pays attention,” Coleman says.

Right now, there are too many.