Jupiter Bar Hosts Country Singer Granger Smith: My Article For The Crimson White

Jupiter Bar hosts country singer Granger Smith

IN CULTURE, MUSIC / BY KINSEY HAYNES / ON FEBRUARY 6, 2014 AT 12:00 AM

Texas country music singer Granger Smith will make his first appearance in Tuscaloosa on Friday at The Jupiter Bar. This will be Smith’s first time visiting Tuscaloosa.

“I love college football so much,” he said. “Anytime we go to a big college town, it’s a big deal. Add on the huge legacy and football tradition at Alabama, that makes it even bigger.”

Smith, who is a 2002 Texas A&M graduate, will play in more than 10 different college towns, such as Lawrence, Kan.; Stillwater, Okla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Baton Rouge, La.; Oxford, Miss.; and College Station, Texas.

“We don’t really set out to play college towns, but we end up booking them,” Smith said. “A lot of our fans are college-aged, and a lot of the college towns have venues that are the kind that we play. It’s kind of a coincidence, but I love it.”

Last year, Smith released his ninth studio album to date, “Dirt Road Driveway.” It debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Country Chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. It is also on iTunes’ Best Albums of the 2000s. The album also produced a No. 1 music video on CMT with the song “Miles and Mud Tires.”

“This album has been a great one for me, the crew and the team. It’s one that’s gotten us to Tuscaloosa – I’ll put it that way. It’s gotten us a lot farther than we’ve ever gone,” Smith said. “Our touring has expanded throughout the nation because of it. I’m really grateful for the opportunity this album has brought me.”

Aside from music and touring, Smith said he is involved in two different charity organizations: Drive Now, Text Later and The Boot Campaign.

Smith said he decided to get involved with Drive Now, Text Later when he visited a town that recently lost two high school students to texting and driving. He said he knew then that he wanted to travel to different high schools and speak about the dangers of texting while driving.

“I just wanted to talk about how easy it is to put the phone down and get where you’re going,” he said. “It actually saves lives.”

Smith started an organization called The Boot Campaign to show his support for the United States’ armed forces. Every year, he walks 100 miles from Austin to Ft. Hood, Texas, in combat boots to raise money for the organization. He said his support for troops has awarded him the opportunity to tour in Iraq and Kuwait multiple times.

“It had a really big impact on me, seeing how hard they work,” he said. “These men and women are volunteering to sacrifice everything, so I can essentially come back and play music for a living. Where there is bad stuff happening, it was nice to put on a country music concert. It had everyone completely forget where we were. At that moment, everyone was back home, enjoying a country music concert. That really showed me the power of music.”

If you have never heard of Granger Smith, maybe you have heard of his country-boy alter ego, Earl Dibbles, Jr. What started as a joke has turned into something that has gained Smith even more fans. Dibbles, Jr. has been acting as the encore performer at Smith’s shows and plays a collection of his own songs such as “The Country Boy Song” and its sequel, “Country Boy Love.”

Granger Smith will play Friday at The Jupiter Bar. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the cover is $5


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Local experimental band to perform at Green Bar: My article from The Crimson White

Local experimental band to perform at Green Bar

BY KINSEY HAyNES / ON JANUARY 16, 2014

Green Bar is known to residents as one of Tuscaloosa’s best venues for unique, original and imaginative music — something Katie Manos, lead singer for Junkyard Kings, values.

The band’s style of music ranges from bluegrass, folk and blues to experimental depending on who is writing the songs.

“There are really great bars in Tuscaloosa for people who want to hear original, live music.” Manos said. “Unfortunately, those aren’t always the most crowded.”

All five band members work at Surin of Thailand on the Strip. Show days are hectic because they have class and work, members said. It can be difficult for them to find time to practice before shows.

“We usually have to practice before we pack up or when we get to the bar,” Manos said. “Our boss is really awesome. There are five people in our band. Any night we have a show, all five people request off, and that can be hard to schedule.”

The first time Junkyard Kings played Green Bar, it was under the name Shrapnel Petals, which included Johnny Bishop on guitar and vocals and Wren Thomley on drums. Later, they acquired Manos, Graham Roden on guitar and Reid Jackson on bass. The name Junkyard Kings came from a former member who wrote a song with the lyric “asphalt heroes and junkyard kings.”

Being from Tuscaloosa has helped Manos grow as an artist in numerous ways, she said. Her first semester of college was spent in New Orleans, La., but she found herself missing her hometown.

“I have a song called ‘Queen City’ that is about a road that I used to live on,” Manos said. “What inspires me about Tuscaloosa is being from here — wanting to leave, but also loving it.”

Bishop and Manos both said they feel that Tuscaloosa has the potential to be a great art scene.

“It’s not the biggest art scene or the biggest music scene, but it could get better if people tried to work on it,” Bishop said. “An artistic revolution of sorts could happen because it is a college town. It goes through phases.”

Manos said the art scene is important because of forward progress and its importance to the community.

The next steps for the band will include having a more expansive repertoire of songs, being able to play more out-of-town shows and putting out an official album.

“We basically recorded the album ourselves and are stalling on putting out a new album for no reason. That should come out soon,” said Bishop.

The band has several songs on its SoundCloud and Reverbnation pages that are available for download. Junkyard Kings will play at Green Bar Thursday at 10 p.m. There is no cover

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