It was no April Fool's joke when the 5-piece band The Red Clay Strays announced on Instagram on April 1, 2024, that they had signed a major label record deal with RCA Records. It was the almost logical consequence of a development that had turned the simple beginnings of a 2015 cover band into the insider tip for one of the hottest new live bands in America over the past year.
"Signing with a record label wasn’t something we originally set out to do", the band stated at the time. "[But] over the last 6 months, it has become very clear to us that we’re going to need all the help we can get in keeping up with our rapidly growing demand while also reaching new fans all over the world.
A demand that was largely driven by the song 'Wondering Why'. The declaration of love, written by lanky lead singer Brandon Coleman, together with Dan Couch and band guitarist Drew Nix, now holds at over 155 million streams on Spotify and is included on the first, still independently released album "Moment of Truth" (2022).
The band performed the song (along with 3 others) live on the YouTube channel Western AF in July of 2023, making the band known to a larger audience for the first time. A band whose sound cannot really be classified, but which is primarily characterized by the look and sound of the lead singer.
"How I sing is [just] emotion", he says in a podcast with Bert Kreischer (Bertcast #634)."I think that's what art is all about - expressing yourself and your emotions. And that' comes out in my singing."
Even though the band's future seemed uncertain during the pandemic, the band members never had any doubts. "I can't remember who quoted it, but something along the lines of you either think you can or you think you can't, but either way you are right", Brandon Coleman says in a calm voice. "That's kinda how I look at it, nothing's gonna stop us, we are gonna do this, no matter what."
It is a self-confidence that he surprisingly also attributes to his faith, when adding: "With God's help, anything is possible." At the same time, he stresses at grammy.com: "Most of the time we're not setting out to write a worship song… or anything like that. We don't want to be a Christian band or even a country band — we just want to make music, plain and simple."
On July 26, 2024, the Red Clay Strays released their first major label studio album. It contains 11 stirring songs, produced by renowned producer Dave Cobb and is titled "Made by These Moments".
This title is a line from the song 'Moments', which not only states that there are many moments in life that shape us all, but it is also an album title that wants to convey that the project describes a whole series of such moments. Because in addition to the music itself, the lyrics are a very important element for the Red Clay Strays. Lyrics that try to put into words the emotions that Brandon Coleman is then able to convey so emotionally with his voice.
I've been full of fear.
I've wanted to be seen
and wanted to disappear.
So the story goes.
There's always highs and lows,
there's things you can't explain,
like finding beauty in the pain.
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