Today I'm featuring a band that you will probably never hear on Christian radio. They are not technically a CCM group. The Red Clay Strays are not an explicitly religious or Christian band, but they are a band composed of Christians. While they infuse their Southern rock and country sound with themes of faith, redemption, and gospel-inspired lyrics, they prefer to be seen as a band making honest, relatable music.
Faith has been a driving force behind Alabama band the Red Clay Strays, both in their music and in their journey to stardom. The quintet leans into that foundation even further, giving listeners a look into their walk with God and road to redemption — all of which has helped them become one of country music's most exciting breakout acts.
Despite the divine influence, lead singer Brandon Coleman insists they're not a Christian band. And their music proves that: The Strays' sound delves as much into high-flying Southern rock and gritty delta blues as it does country, sounding like Waylon Jennings or Johnny Cash one minute, then Lynyrd Skynyrd or Elvis Presley the next. As Coleman insists, what's most important to the group is making music that resonates.
"Most of the time we're not setting out to write a worship song… or anything like that," he tells GRAMMY.com. "We don't want to be a Christian band or even a country band — we just want to make music, plain and simple."
As they explain in a recent interview:
You guys haven't shied away from making your faith a focal point of your music. Mind telling me about the roots of that influence?
I mean, God's really the driving force in all of it. He's why we do this. Everyone's wondering why they were put here on Earth and what their purpose is. Once you're able to get an idea for what that is, that's often what you end up doing. Our music is about our lives and living on the road, and God is a big part of all of it.
When God gives you a gift you have to use it or it's wasted, right? The biblical things we talk about in our music are lessons that we've learned growing up. It's such complex and simple truths all wrapped into one, which makes it really easy to write about. There's victory and strife and everything else you go through in life. It leaves us thanking God at the end of each and every day for giving us another one.
The Red Clay Strays recently released new album, Grateful. Their 3rd album features some great songs like "Demons In Your Choir", "If I Didn't Know You", and the title track "Grateful"...
I think my favorite from the new album might be "Revival"...
