Grant Maloy Smith - Penny Ballads (2025)

I’m thinking about what to write & thought I should wear a big cowboy hat while listening. Psychologically, to get the mood. So, this NJ boy’s big head found one at the consignment shop & everything fell into place. There’s a 19th-century myth that states that ‘artistic integrity & popularity, success are incompatible.’ I guess they never heard of Grant Maloy Smith.

A listen to Grant (vocals/guitars/keys/bass/mandolin) doesn’t require props. He performs effectively & resolutely within his own unique Country blend. Closest to him would’ve been Roger Miller’s “River In the Rain,” from Miller’s Broadway Mark Twain-based musical “Big River.” Grant maneuvers through his little chapters filled with people, places & things. A Charles Kuralt journey in every song.

The trio of American Stories (the charted Dust Bowl, followed by Appalachia & Mississippi) made Grant Maloy Smith an aural equivalent of Ken Burns in country music. Penny Ballads was produced by Grant & recorded in Rhode Island. Taking a break from his themed showcases, this 11-song set was completed but became unused extras from the 3 conceptual albums.

The CD cover image is a dark silhouette of a little boy on a rainy cobblestone street with packages in his arms (maybe he has a Grant album in one of those bags). To my ears, these shape into another strictly American tradition. Intentional, or not, of the “historical” Tin Pan Alley…maybe that’s exactly where the little boy is standing.

Theoretically, not every path yields sustained inspiration, but GMS albums have done just that. They communicate imaginatively & consistently. Storytelling is key & songs like “You Don’t Have To Love Me Back” are strong swipes at an old genre that Grant allows you to recognize as the music that’s home to many. There’s little depth to commerciality, but Grant isn’t that – he injects sentimentality, reflection & reverence into his work. Not beer, pick-up trucks, or getting rowdy.

Grant has a deep well of inspiration. Maybe he’ll explore Vanishing America eventually (as photographer Michael Eastman did in his 192-page 2008 coffee-table book with penetrating, desolate images of America’s beautiful past). Each image is a song loaded with history & only Grant Maloy Smith’s voice could bring it to life.

With “Way Down Low,” there’s a Jimmie Dale Gilmore emotional measure as a fiddle (Steve Stokes) saws away. He continues with “I See You” & then, a piano-driven “Cuts Away,” a song wonderfully performed. Vocally, Grant lets it rip on “Always Away.” There are many hyphenated musical genres, but Grant slowly sculpts his own Country-pop texture & it’s always durable. A satisfying listen.