Singing Away With the Red Clay Strays

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DURANT, OKLAHOMA – The Choctaw Casino & Resort towers over the flat landscape outside Durant with the 21-story Sky Tower and the 12-story Grand Tower bookending the casino, which boasts thousands of ways to lose money at slots, blackjack, poker, craps, or roulette. However, we are not here to gamble, although I did “invest” five bucks on a quarter slot machine. That was gone in about one minute and served to remind me why I retired from gambling more than 20 years ago.

We were here to see the Red Clay Strays, a terrific band from Mobile, Alabama. The Grand Theater at the casino holds 3,000 folks. It was nearly full on this frigid weeknight. The Red Clay Strays, after several years of relative obscurity, have become a hot ticket.

My Beautiful Mystery Companion discovered this band and showed me a couple of YouTube videos. I was immediately hooked and searched for concert dates as a birthday gift for her. Durant is an easy three-hour trip from Three Geese Farm. I took off work, and we hit the road.

Brandon Coleman is the front man for this Southern rock band. Coleman, 28, is tall, handsome, and thin. He sports a luscious pompadour that reminds many of Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash, especially when he throws in an occasional hip swing or lip curl. He made clear at one point during the concert that he isn’t fond of the comparisons, but they’re inevitable. The band’s music is more reminiscent of the Allman Brothers or Marshall Tucker Band, for those old enough to remember those groups. But a key difference, besides Brandon’s remarkable charisma and terrific voice, is the band’s strong embrace of their spirituality. The Red Clay Strays are not considered a Christian band but make clear that their faith drives their music. As Brandon said in an interview for Southern Living:

…When you accept the fact that you are made by a creator and you’re put here with a purpose, you’re put here with a job to do, and you’re here for a reason, you kind of obsess over figuring out what that is, and if you know what that is you obsess over completing it and getting it done.

The band’s songs are principally written by guitarist Drew Nix and Brandon’s younger brother, Matthew, who scurried about the stage at the concert, photographing and videoing the six members. While Matthew writes songs for the band, he doesn’t perform with the Red Clay Strays. Other members of the band are guitarist Zach Rishel, bassist Andrew Bishop and drummer John Hall. The latter, wearing a “Hell, Yeah, I Listen to Jerry Jeff Walker” T-shirt, is a human dynamo whose enthusiastic beat drives the songs.

One of my favorite Red Clay Strays songs is “I’m Still Fine,” which Matthew wrote in a closet while busing tables at a Nashville restaurant. At the time, Brandon was making ends meet as an Uber driver, in 2021. Here is the chorus:

People here living it up, I think they’re blind

I think they’re out of their minds

Not one of them has had this

God’s not giving me up, no, I’m just fine

It’s just a matter of time

Though I can’t feel my sadness.

As my BMC put it during the band’s three-song encore, “This is the best Sunday church.” Brandon at one point said, “Y’all want to hear another God song?” As the crowd roared its approval, he said, “We were going to play one anyway but figured the polite thing was to ask.”

My love for music has been a driving force my entire life. I am far more interested in finding new artists, people who write interesting or inspiring songs, than in replaying the oldies from my youth. There are a few exceptions. I can listen to Jackson Browne or Joni Mitchell and never tire of their poetry and the beauty of their voices. But there are so many talented and compelling musicians on the current scene well worth exploring. Discovering the Red Clay Strays, thanks to my BMC, and getting to know their music, has been a genuine delight.

Seeing them perform live was magical, even if it did cost me five bucks at the slots. What are you waiting for? Go to YouTube or Instagram and give the Red Clay Strays a listen. You will not be disappointed.

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