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Kids in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, listened to plenty of Rush and Def Leppard. Not much country.
So how did Chris Richards, growing up in Sheboygan during arena rock's prime, become enamored of traditional country music? "My Grandma Em was a beer-drinking woman. She loved a good tavern, and I mean that in the best possible way," he recalls. "I spent a good deal of time with her playing jukeboxes. Lots of Glen Campbell, Michael Martin Murphey and Kenny Rogers. Maybe not what some would consider the greatest of all time, but there was something about the story songs of that era that really captured my attention."
So we have Richards' grandmother to thank, at least in part, for Tumblers & Grit, the new album showcasing Richards' outstanding country songwriting. The album was recorded in a veteran studio on Nashville's Music Row. But Tumbers & Grit is far from standard Music Row fare.
Lyrically and musically, Richards' songs are understated but sly. He sings in a friendly baritone that reminds producer R.S. Field of Gordon Lightfoot. And while his songs explore traditional territory -- lost love, the open road, and a favorite topic of many a country singer: country music itself -- Richards infuses them with a subtle humor that's hard to pin down.
It could be his upbringing in Sheboygan, America's bratwurst capital and home of many a bathtub manufacturer. Or it could be the self-reflection that must have come with leaving a good paying advertising job in Los Angeles, settling into a former drug house in East Nashville where addicts would show up at all hours after he moved in, and working "shitty jobs like janitorial stuff and grocery stocking" while immersing himself in Nashville's music culture and history.
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In any case, Richards has discovered a plainspoken lyrical wit that critics have compared to John Prine and Lucinda Williams. In "Hard Livin'," he describes the loneliness of being left, singing, "It's twelve-hour shifts in the foundry heat/Then I'm done with the easiest part of my week." Richards sets up "The Ballad of the Analog Kid" this way:
"Burst from the dirt like a lottery ball
Last one to talk, first one to crawl
And as soon as someone left the door unlatched
Just wandered out and he never looked back."
Richards got a late start with music. He reports that during his days in Sheboygan, kids just didn't play much guitar. They didn't start rock bands. So, it wasn't untilhe was situated in L.A. that he stumbled upon songwriting and realized it could actually be a career path. "Somewhere along the way, I went out and bought a Tom T. Hall book on songwriting just to see if I was doing it right," he says. "I figured ol' Tom T. would give it to me straight."
He must've been doing something right, because results came quickly. After hearing a set of Richards' demos, SoCal solo artist and Dave Alvin sideman Rick Shea offered to work with him on an album. The resulting project, Jam the Breeze, caught the attention of Mojo, No Depression, and BBC radio, and gave Richards the gumption to pursue music further.
He moved to Nashville, set up a home in the aforementioned sketchy house, figured out a way to scrape by, became a true student of country songwriting, and began a scheming to make his next album. Rather than pursuing a record deal, Richards aimed to have as much control as possible. "I had worked for Atlantic Records in L.A. before I decided I was going to take a stab at (music). Probably the best thing any singer could do is to go work at a major label before getting into it too far. I got to peek behind the curtain, and it wasn't pretty."
The indie options didn't look much more promising, so with the help of a family friend from Sheboygan, Richards set up his own independent label, Lake Effect Records. They hope to eventually put out recordings by like-minded artists, but the first order of business is Tumblers & Grit.
Richards called in Field, a buddy and one of Nashville's most admired producers (credits include albums with Billy Joe Shaver, Webb Wilder and Allison Moorer). Putting their heads together, they called in a cast of stellar players, including guitar monster Kenny Vaughan (Patty Loveless, Marty Stuart); Chris Carmichael (Sara Evans, David Ball), on fiddle; Jared Reynolds (Allison Moorer, Trent Summar) on bass; and a relatively unknown singer from Los Angeles named Dawn McCoy.
Then there's Lloyd Green. Among the most recorded steel guitarists in history, Green has played with George Jones, Johnny Cash, the Byrds, Paul McCartney and Johnny Paycheck. Now he's played on a Chris Richards record.
Green was out of recording from the late 1980's until about a year ago. Immediately sought after by traditional-leaning artists, he recently played on Alan Jackson's "Remember When" (a number one hit for Jackson, and Green's 117th contribution to one of those). Besides that session, Green says Tumblers & Grit was the most enjoyable of his comeback projects. "Chris is very bright, very talented. He writes such quality songs," Green says. "He's been one of the real bright spots for me getting back into recording."
Green also enjoyed working with Field, who gave the players on Richards' album room to create. "He let me play without restriction," says Green, drawing contrast with most Music Row sessions. The result is a country album that falls into a comfortable, intimate groove, adhering to the roots while showing flashes of folk and rock.
Richards will be hitting the road in the months ahead, with plans to cover as much ground as he can. He's especially excited to play in Wisconsin, where not all that much has changed. The weather's often too icy or too humid for most. And when you flip on the radio you're still more likely to hear "Tom Sawyer" than "The Bottle Let Me Down". But maybe in the Badger State honkytonks Richards and his grandmother used to frequent, they'll make room in the jukebox for one of their own.
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