***The annals of Nashville, the 20th century’s immortal Music City, are filled with lore of the legends, as well as tales of the one-shots, the lesser-knowns and the delightful obscurities: singers, writers and players who had a moment, were a step away from stardom or just stood in the same room with the men and women whose names we know. Like the outlaw he defines himself as, CHRIS GANTRY doesn’t really fit in any of those boxes—and 50-plus years since he wrote his first and biggest hit, he’s still writing and singing, having lived to tell the tale of his serpentine but ultimately joyful path, a “Life Well Lived.” Now in his mid-70s, Gantry is still a consummate performer and an inveterate writer, appearing in performance as a lusty, genial man, grateful to have drunk of the experience he’s had, transcendent in that experience and ebullient in the moment of singing it. Nashlantis is the ninth record of Gantry tunes to be released since Chris moved to Nashville in early 1960. Then, he fell in with like-minded others: Shel Silverstein, Kris Kristofferson, Eddie Rabbitt, Vince Matthews and Mickey Newbury—guys working day and night to break into the business, writing and singing their way through the chaos of their youth. It was an intoxicating environment—everyone with his own vision, and Chris’s cosmic stirrings setting him a little apart from the rest. Recorded in Nashville with the legendary engineer ROB GALBRAITH, Nashlantis features 11 mesmerizing Gantry performances. Features guest harmony vocalists EDITH...
LP $20.50
08/02/2019
CD $13.75
08/02/2019
***At the end of ’73, CHRIS GANTRY had in the can one of the weirdest records ever cut, on or off Music Row. A songwriter, storyteller and original Nashville outlaw, Chris started the wild new wave of young talent in town, a few years before Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Tony Joe White, Dan Penn and dozens more. He’d already been writing for years when, at the age of 25, his song, “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife,” was a Billboard Pop Top 40 hit and a #3 Country record for Glen Campbell. He’d made his own records to0—but so far, Chris Gantry hadn’t done anything like this—and that was kinda saying a LOT. His music was a stylistic fusion: his 1967 album debut Introspection sounded a little bit folk, a little bit pop and only a little bit country, with smooth melodies and verdant string charts. But the '60s were afoot, and by the time of Chris’ second LP in 1970, Motor Mouth, his approach had radicalized into a wide-eyed, hard-edged delivery. The critics dug it, and Chris played on Johnny Cash’s TV show, but the next Gantry record didn’t appear for five more years. And herein lies a tale: of dropping out, of a vision-quest and an exorcism of sorts, and of sessions for a bunch of songs so far out from Nashville norms that it’s only now they’ve seen release. This is the story of At the House of Cash. High on the waves of the times, Chris had pulled...
LP $20.95
11/17/2017
CD $13.75
11/17/2017