Something extraordinary happened the other evening. LeAnne & I went out with some friends to see a guy named Grayson Capps play at a little blues joint in Gadsden. He was there with his band, The Stumpknockers, which consisted of a guy on drums, a hippie on bass guitar, and an electric guitar player that looked like a cross between James Taylor and Jimmy Buffet. We walked in and Grayson started off on the steel guitar, sitting down, with a cap tucking his hair back. He wiggled his leg around while he sat on the stool, much like Elvis would do with his hip swivel. All this while he slid his glass down the neck of the guitar. It was a bluegrass sound, with a hint of blues at first, which probably came just from the ambiance of the building. It was decorated much like New Orleans is during Mardi Gras--just an eclectic mix of everything from underwear on the wall to a life-size Homer Simpson doll to imaginative paintings. After several songs, he seemed to warm up, and switched to an electric guitar. He stood up, took his hat off, let his hair come down, and started to really jam. His music now had morphed into a Southern Bluesy Rock, with some hard driving licks from James-Jimmy.
In between the songs, he would say a little something about the background of why he wrote it or where it originated. So at one point, he starts talking about this guy named Bobby Long and Brewton. I was thinking, "I wonder if he's talking about Brewton, Alabama..." as in the place where I grew up as a child. Then I thought, nah, can't be...Until the opening line of the song was, "Brewton Alabama at the Colonial Inn." I was dumbstruck. During their setbreak, I talked with a friend and told him how I grew up in Brewton. So he tells me that this song about Brewton and about this guy named Bobby Long has some more history.
Evidently, Grayson Capps' father wrote a novel loosely based on a guy who lived in Brewton named Bobby Long. The guy was educated, and seemingly could have made something of himself. However, through some turn of events, he ended up becoming a destitute alcoholic. Anyway, back to Grayson...so his father wrote this novel, but never published it. Well, years later, Grayson is going to school at Tulane University in New Orleans, and is playing music in bars on the side. This woman happens to see his show one night and approaches him with an offer to be featured in her documentary about Americana music. She feels his music is just what she's looking for. So they eventually wrap up filming, and before she leaves, they sit down and he asks her what she's going to do next. He ends up offering her his father's yet to be published novel about Bobby Long. She says that she is intrigued, and if they ever end up making a movie based on it, she'll give him a call. Sure enough, a few years later, he gets a call from her saying they're going to start filming down in New Orleans. She had written a screenplay based on the novel and was about to turn it into a major movie with Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta called A Love Song for Bobby Long.
Back to the show...well, I heard from my friend about this movie & all, and I wanted to see what Grayson Capps would have to say about Brewton. Of course, I wanted a cd with that song on it, so I approached him and we talked a bit about Brewton, & then bought I a cd. He signed it "Natalie, To Brewton!" I was pretty tickled about that (My friends were laughing, saying that we were BFF's now. They show no mercy.).
Well, of course, all this reminescing about little ole Brewton made me want to go rent the movie to see what all that was about. LeAnne & I watched it tonight, and I've gotta say it ranks right up there with some of my favorites. I love movies that really make you think, and this one was so provoking. Of course, the movie really had nothing to do with Brewton, but it did tell a familiar tale of lives lost. I was extremely moved, and I already want to watch it again.
Now, this is all my perspective, so here's a link to Grayson Capps biography where he talks about this strange turn of events. Also, The Brewton Standard interviewed Ronald Capps about his novel and the direction the movie took.
If you want to hear some really good music, too, check out his website. I mean, this guy is awesome. Definitely worth the listen. Oh, and if you get a chance to see him live, do it. His band is interesting, too.
So that's my tale of my strange night out with my friends. I'm so glad I went.
So nice to hear you've discovered Grayson Capps. He's a legend in the making. I first discovered him in New Orleans and have since bought all of his CDs. Thanks for sharing the story.
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