
An album release from Grant Maloy Smith has a very robust way of delivering a full-bodied and extremely flavorful brand of southern soul in the form of genre-bending blues, Americana, country, folk rock, and so much more.
This is just part of the beauty of the album. There are so many layers to soak in and peel back. The record unfolds so joyfully that you wind up feeling a lot of this robustness and a wide array of instrumentation, excitement, energy, and most of all, character.
To say the Mississippi: American Stories album is a big one would be quite an understatement. The record spans about an hour and 16 tracks, which to me is a beautiful thing because again, it delivers so much insight into that character's personality but also describes stories and some inner thoughts and has such a great time doing so that you get immediately attached to it all.
Some tracks can be a lot more personal than others, but many of the songs are very detailed in their descriptions lyrically, so you can picture many of these things as you listen to the music.
The guitar work throughout this record is astounding and the range of songwriting hits hard because there are a couple of surprises around the corners and just when you think you know what to expect Grant surprises you once again.
I don't know about you, but I love a good record with those kinds of elements to it.
It's been a long time since I listened to a record that really humanizes the artist in this way, and this is part of why you end up connecting with a lot of it.
This is also the kind of album that you should be listening to from beginning to end because listening to only one or two songs may give you a little idea of what you might expect but will not give you anywhere near the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.
Again, there are layers here and it is fun to peel them back and listen through to everything.
There are stories, picturesque descriptions, a warm tonality sometimes but also a wild and high energy tonality other.
The record is very well balanced in terms of the song arrangement and track order so, it does unfold in such a way that you never get bored.
The release is riddled with outstanding performances on a multitude of instruments ranging from electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, horn sections, accordion, mandolin, and just plenty more.
This is part of why the record is so lush. All these instruments come together to create such a welcoming atmosphere and the record breeds so much honesty that you just end up falling right into this atmosphere from the get-go.
If you do listen to the whole album, then you get pulled away from wherever you are and whatever you are doing and put into this other person's life. Grant is very good at wrapping concepts, ideas, and stories around you, so you get pulled into his world.
This is part of the brilliance of a record like this one. It's an hour long but it's got your attention the entire time. You end up wanting to sing along with some of these choruses, you have certain hooks bouncing around in your brain after songs have ended, and it's a very satisfying album.
You can also tell that a lot of heart went into this record. Yes, there was plenty of attention to detail in terms of constructing the songs, arranging and composing them, and all of that. But there's also soul and heart that's intertwined throughout these songs. That's what lets them feel alive and breathing.
This was a gorgeous record and again I suggest listening to the entire thing so you can grasp everything that is going on. There's so much that this record offers in terms of emotion, personality, textures, instrumentation, and just this again, beautiful atmosphere that listening to the record all the way through is the best way to do it.
This way, you can get a full experience which I feel the album was meant for. The experience. Stories just like the title says.
Take a deep dive into this record when you can and do it with headphones on because it's one of the best ways to soak it in.
Remember where you heard it first.
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