Craig Gerdes’ forthcoming record, Smokin’, Drinkin’ & Gamblin’ (out February 16) features production work and contributions from Jim Vest (Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe), as well as pedal steel from Robby Turner (Waylon Jennings, Chris Stapleton). Gerdes has also recently collaborated with Jeff Tweel (Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers), and has shared bills with country legend Billy Joe Shaver.
Smokin’ Drinkin’ & Gamblin’ is full of outlaw-country rug cutters and ballads about strong heads and weak hearts. Fueled by nostalgia, Gerdes’ songwriting talent turns old habits into dependable crutches, nursing the phantom pain of distant love. The nine-track album is full old-school four-to-the-floor honky tonk that calls to mind country legends like George Strait, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson.
New single “Dead In A Box In Kentucky” is a murder ballad inspired by a true story. While listening to the radio on a recent tour, Gerdes heard the story of a cold case involving a man found cut up in a box. The song blends phased-out electric guitars with Gerdes’ assertive vocals and a production style that calls to mind the best of Waylon Jennings. A Spanish guitar solo during the bridge dances into a climactic finish as the song concludes with a fratricidal twist–Gerdes’ own ending to the tale.
Glide is proud to premiere the gripping “Dead In A Box In Kentucky” (below)- reminiscent of a lost western nugget where Gerdes’ well-worn vocals bring an otherwise dire tale to relevancy. With the singer-songwriter movement being doused with over the top twangs, Gerdes delivers with a hometown authenticity, that is equally compelling and familiar. Read Gerdes’ take on the birth of the song below….
“I got the idea for the song out of the blue as I was driving down the road, listening to the radio as one does,” recalls Gerdes to Glide. “I heard a report on a Wisconsin man who’d gone missing some time ago, and how the search had recently ended as he was found “dead in a box in Kentucky.” That idea stuck with me for quite some time. Months later, I was stuck at home with the flu, trying to pass the time productively by writing songs. For whatever reason–maybe it was the flu–I felt the urge to write a murder ballad and fill in the dots from the old radio report. Using a healthy dose of poetic license, I wrote the song about Billy (the names are all changed), the small time gamblin’ man who was married to Sarah Beth, whom he abuses physically and mentally and cheats on with a stripper named Stormy Night. I frame the story so listeners initially think it’s Stormy’s husband that kills Billy, until I throw in a twist at the end: The killer is actually Billy & Sarah Beth’s son; the narrator of the story who had witnessed the abuse his whole life.”
“Funny story from the studio–when we finished tracking and listening back to this one in the control room, there was an air of tension in the room as one of the session players slowly turned to me and asked ‘…is this a confession?’ I guess I wrote a pretty convincing story!”
