Charley Crockett

Matthew Charles Crockett (born March 24, 1984) is an American blues, country, and Americana singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

Later he traveled further afield by hitchhiking and riding freight, and by 2009 he was busking in New York City.

As he improved his performance skills, Crockett organized a street band called the Trainrobbers, which caught the attention of a Manhattan-based representative for Sony Music.

She signed the 26-year-old Crockett to a two-year management contract, although he rejected a publishing deal.

Eventually tired of life on the streets and the pending expiration of the contract, Crockett relocated to Northern California, where he combined working on farms and communes with performing for three more years.

Crockett then existed on the streets in Paris, France, for a year, and briefly lived in Spain and Morocco.

He has released twelve studio albums since 2015, with Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart and The Man From Waco breaking the US Billboard 200.

In September 2023, Crockett was nominated for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year at the 2023 Americana Music Honors & Awards.

Charley was born in San Benito, Texas.

Raised by a single mother with an older brother and sister, Crockett grew up in a trailer park in Los Fresnos, Texas.

He is a descendant of Davy Crockett, a famous frontiersmen and an Alamo defender.

His mother relocated the family to Dallas, and Crockett spent the summer months with his uncle, who lived in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Upon leaving high school at the age of 17, Crockett decided to travel with his guitar acquired by his mother from a pawn shop.

Crockett noted "I taught myself how to play and started to write songs immediately, without any chord knowledge or anything. I didn't know what key I was in for 12 years, but my ear was really good, and I could play in any key and any chord. I just didn't know what it was."

His early musical influences came from hearing hip hop, and he became fascinated with the samples used.

Crockett said, "I got into Curtis Mayfield through samples of his songs by other artists, and Nina Simone was through a sample. Even J. Cole, I was listening to a song of his ("Kenny Lofton"), and it was based on the sample from the Manhattans version of 'Hurt.

Crockett played music on the streets in the French Quarter of New Orleans and in Deep Ellum, Dallas as a teenager.

In 2015, Crockett returned to Texas and after settling in Dallas, self-released his debut album, A Stolen Jewel, in May.

It landed him the Dallas Observer Music Award for 'Best Blues Act'.

The lo-fi collection contained a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Juanita."

Crockett also befriended Leon Bridges at this time, before Crockett released a blues-dominated album, In The Night, in 2016.

In The Night contained a selection of Crockett-penned numbers, along with a cover of his hometown hero Freddy Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights".

Fort Worth Star-Telegram called In The Night "an impressive calling card, full of Crockett's plaintive soulfulness and swinging tempos".

Crockett spent the next year touring to promote his work, playing over 125 shows in total.

He toured with the Turnpike Troubadours, Lucero, Shinyribs, Samantha Fish, and Old 97's, among others.

After relocating to Austin, Texas, Crockett's next release was a collection of covers of country songs, Lil G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee (2017), which was issued on Thirty Tigers.

Tracks included the Roy Acuff-penned "Night Train to Memphis", Tanya Tucker’s "The Jamestown Ferry" and Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'", all incorporating Crockett's clipped, hiccuped Texan drawl.

Other tracks on the album were originally recorded by Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lynn, and Webb Pierce ("I Ain't Never").

AllMusic stated "Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza is a companion of sorts to Charley Crockett's 2017 Lil G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee".

The album was primarily another compilation of cover versions, although Crockett's definition of the blues encompasses tracks including Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City", Tom T. Hall's "That's How I Got to Memphis" and Danny O'Keefe's "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues".

In 2018, he released Lonesome as a Shadow, a collection of purely original songs.

It was recorded at Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by Matt Ross-Spang.

The opening track, "I Wanna Cry", was written for his sister who had died from a methamphetamine overdose.

The album was dedicated to Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas.

Following its April release date, Crockett toured again backed by his band the Blue Drifters.

His dates included venues such as the House of Blues in Houston, Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, The Mint in Los Angeles and The Fillmore in San Francisco.

In addition, he performed at festivals such as the Wheatland Music Festival, Portland, Oregon's Pickathon and Austin City Limits Music Festival.

In late 2018, Crockett issued Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza.

Crockett noted that "Lil G.L. is my side name, like Hank [Williams] had Luke the Drifter. I use it for all my side projects and cover projects".

He explained the moniker was given to him by a local blues drummer, Jay Moeller, in reference to the obscure R&B singer G. L. Crockett.