The Red Clay Strays - Live At The Ryman

When The Red Clay Strays’ grateful-lover track, ‘Wondering Why,’ went viral on TikTok in late 2023, the impetus was enough to launch them into a new year with colossal velocity. In 2024, the Alabama band enjoyed a critically acclaimed second album, Made By These Moments, an Americana Music Award, a CMA Award nomination, an appearance on Jimmy Fallon and a sold out, three-night debut at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium.

For critical darlings who appear to spring fully formed out of the ether and into the public consciousness', debuting at the Ryman has become something of an opportunity to lay down tracks. Charley Crockett, Margo Price and Jackson Dean have all released live recordings of their debuts in recent years, and so follow the Strays, who memorialise the year’s achievements in the shape of new album, Red Clay Strays: Live At The Ryman.

The band possess the rare ability of creating the feel of a live show in their studio recordings; Brandon Coleman’s voice and the group’s instruments are rambunctious enough to summon the energy of a packed out floor. They also only have two albums in their repertoire so it’s unsurprising that, save for the accented zippiness and twang of their guitars, the live album doesn’t offer much that’s new in the way of sound and musicality. If anything, this simply serves as an affirmation of what a superb band The Red Clay Strays are and the finely carved harmony in which they operate.

An air-punching two-minute instrumental at the end of ‘No One Else Like Me’ showcases the absolute control they have over their intentionally frenzied sound. Keys, strings and percussion are in equilibrium, none stealing space from the other. Humble as the band have been during their rise, they afford themselves a full 40 seconds at the end of the track to take in the boot-stomping admiration of the audience, whose frenzy is not quite as controlled. They’re spurred on by Coleman’s earlier call to scream and be as rowdy as they possibly can.

They obey. ‘Wondering Why’ perfectly captures the overflow of the pot that occurs in a live show when the artist finally unleashes their biggest hit. On this album, it comes relatively early at track four, yet it’s enough time for the crowd to be closer to boiling than warm, their voices uniting in chorus.

The Red Clays Strays have always embraced religion in their music, showcased on songs like ‘Will The Lord Remember Me’ or ‘Don’t Care.’ “I’m on a one way road to glory and I’ll leave all my troubles behind,” Coleman wails on the latter. It’s on these tracks that the live element feels most affecting. The former delivers a rare acoustic moment, bringing the rough and reverential feel of a church band to the Mother Church and a reminder that their music is an act of worship in itself.

This album may not be new, nor even a reimagination of their small discography. Yet, as a graduation present to themselves, The Red Clay Strays let their fans in on their rightfully optimistic glory of what’s to come next.

8/10

The Red Clay Strays 2024 project, Live At The Ryman, is available everywhere now via RCA Records.

For more on The Red Clay Strays, see below: