Charley Crockett

Charley Crockett has an aura of myth about him. As the distant relative of American folk hero Davy Crockett, he's lived up to his ancestor's name, traveling all over the country and gathering its influences into what he describes as his 'Gulf + Western music', which blends traditional country, honky tonk, blues and soul.

Crockett was born in 1984. He grew up in Texas, where he taught himself to play guitar and write songs without any formal training. He left home at 17, using music to support himself as he busked and played in New Orleans, New York, and across the U.S.

His talents attracted attention from the music industry, including a two-year management deal with Sony Records, but that didn't pan out. Instead, he went to Northern California, where he worked on farms, before heading to France and Morocco.

When he returned Stateside, Crockett self-released his debut album A Stolen Jewel in 2015. Over the next six years, he went on to release a total of ten albums. But it wasn't until the release of 2020's Welcome to Hard Times that he began attracting more national attention for his music.

He followed that breakthrough with a tribute album in honor of James 'Slim' Hand called 10 For Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand, which he released in 2021. That same year, Crockett released his tenth studio album Music City USA.

At the age of 37, he was named Emerging Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Awards in 2021.