Stand Up Man
Grant Langston tips his hat to Haggard at the Grand Ole Echo
By Bliss 09/17/2009
Alabama native Grant Langston has been living in California so long — 20 years — that he can’t seriously envision moving back to his old hometown. But he shows his roots with pride in his music. Langston, who works by day as a writer and editor in the Pasadena offices of an online publishing company, is a country music fan who grew up listening to George Jones and Bob Dylan, and who’s apt to quote personal heroes like California country icon Merle Haggard (as well as novelist Charles Bukowski). His new CD, “Stand Up Man,” is a solidly crafted collection that’s his most focused album to date. He’s promoting it with several local shows before making his fourth tour of England in late October.
Songs like “Burt Reynolds Movie Brawl,” “Shiner Bock and Vicodin,” “The King of Sunset Hills” and the jail-time two-stepper “30 Days” showcase his natural affinity for story songs.
“That is a Langston trait,” he acknowledges with a chuckle, “back to my granddad and my dad. They’re big story people. I grew up listening to a lot of tall tales.”
His songs are frequently humorous, but his approach to them is serious.
“There’s really two parts to a song for me,” he says. “One is the spark or idea, which you can’t practice, and then the craft of taking that and molding it into something. You’ve gotta be able to do both. The spark part comes from reading and being aware and talking to people and keeping your eyes and ears open. But you have to be willing to sit down at the table and do the work and practice. I try to do that at least every few days.”
He has less time for that since Aug. 22, when he and wife Catie became first-time parents. Parenthood has given Langston fresh appreciation of the maxim that “songs are like children.”
“It is the same principle,” he says. “You do your best, and then you kind of put ’em out in the world and they have to do what they do. That analogy’s much easier for me to understand now. You put a lot of work into these kids, no matter whether they’re real or songs.”
Much as he loves the music he grew up with and the place that spawned it, he says home is California.“The Alabama that I remember doesn’t exist anymore,” he says. “I think that’s a song that I’ve gotta work on sometime.”
Grant Langston & the Supermodels play the Grand Ole Echo at the Echo, 1822 Sunset Blvd., Echo Park, 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20; free admission.
Info: (213) 413-8200. Langston also plays Pocket Goldberg’s Songwriter Showcase at Arnie’s Café, 6864 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24; free admission. Info: (818) 951-9089; grantlangston.com
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