Grayson Capps - South Front Street (2020)

Grayson Capps 'South Front Street' is a 16-song retrospective of the acclaimed South Alabama singer-songwriter's career, compiled by his wife and longtime musical foil, Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer, Trina Shoemaker. In the album's liner notes, Shoemaker explains: I began this as a personal compilation that I sequenced for myself. It is a collection of songs that paint a picture of our life together and reveals a world from the uniquely enchanted, poetic and tormented perspective of Grayson Capps. She later continues: These songs capture a life in motion, in pain and joy, in gain and loss, in humility and in grace. More than just a standard Best Of compilation presenting Grayson Capps most popular work, Shoemaker selected songs that have personal significance in their journey together. She titles the collection 'South Front Street, named after the street where Capps lived in an abandoned shotgun house amid an assortment of outsiders and ne'er-do-wells that he credits as the inspiration for finding his voice as a songwriter. It follows Grayson, Trina and their son Waylon s relocation to Nashville after being forced out of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and a subsequent return to the Gulf Coast where they now reside in Fairhope, Alabama, while touching on songs written both before and after: Capps short-lived band Stavin Chain, the birth of his daughter and his role in the cult film A Love Song For Bobby Long starring Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta. Taking it one step further, Shoemaker revisited each of the original recordings, remixing many of the songs from scratch, essentially presenting them here anew. Some of Capps best known work, Get Back Up, Washboard Lisa and Daddy s Eyes are born again in striking aural clarity. Deeper tracks like Harley Davidson, May We Love and Train Song will be heard for the first time in their studio incarnations by many of even Capps most devout fans. As Shoemaker concludes: Among this collection are recordings I believe to be my finest work. 'South Front Street: A Retrospective' is Grayson Capps story, and within it lies my own.