PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

American Songwriter "Daily Discovery":

https://americansongwriter.com/daily-discovery-grayson-jenkins-cant-quit-his-low-down-lady/

Bluegrass Situation:

https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/listen-grayson-jenkins-mockingbird/

Music Mecca:

https://musicmecca.org/muhlenberg-county-country-singer-songwriter-grayson-jenkins-talks-upcoming-album-turning-tides-getting-back-on-the-road-more/?amp

Country in the UK:

https://www.countryintheuk.com/essential-8-with-press-grayson-jenkins.html

Capture Kentucky:

https://www.capturekentucky.com/album-review-grayson-jenkins-is-turning-tides-with-a-brand-new-album-and-tour-in-2021/

WFPK Video Premiere:

https://wfpk.org/2021/502unes-grayson-jenkins-turning-tides-video-premiere/

• Named one of Kentucky's "Best Unsigned Artists and Bands" by Capture Kentucky

• ‘Cowboy Dream’ listed as Top 25 song for October 2019 by Saving Country Music.

• “Effortlessly melodic folk and country drenched pop appeal that sounds like it could have been forged in 1973.” Rich Copley // Lexington Herald-Leader

• “Grayson’s songs show true strength in songwriting and are matched by his enthusiastic and genuine live performances.” Kentucky Music Preview

• “It was the first time seeing Jenkins perform in over a year and he blew me away with his hard-driving country and rock infused ballads, crowd interaction and charisma all night long.” Matt Wickstrom // Lexington Herald-Leader

• “Staying true to his Kentucky roots, Grayson writes about the ups and downs of every day life while delivering them in a way that’s as rich as a glass of bourbon. “

  Red Barn Radio

ABOUT

Candor and vulnerability cascade out of Grayson Jenkins’ songs on waves of circling guitar strums and sparkling choruses. Like fellow Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson, Jenkins tells stories with a shrewd sincerity, a hopeful resignation, and a canny insight into the ways of the world. Like Eric Church, Jenkins’ resonant baritone vocals echo powerfully enough to fill large halls, and like Keith Whitley, Jenkins sings with a tenderness that cradles his lyrics and delivers them to our hearts.

With a shrewd sincerity, a hopeful resignation, and a canny insight into the ways of the world, Grayson Jenkins is sharing his stories in the form of a ten-track album called Turning Tides. The full-length album finds Jenkins delivering candor and vulnerability with his signature resonant baritone; powerful enough to fill large halls but still tender enough to cradle his lyrics and deliver them straight into listeners’ hearts. The songs on Turning Tides all tell captivating stories of love and loss, heartbreak and hope. For Jenkins, a proud Kentuckian by birth, and now by choice, the arc of the album follows transitions in his own life—moving into music full-time, emerging into a post-pandemic phase of life, leaving behind one relationship and starting another—and offers perspectives on the changes we all experience in our lives as we move from sadness to joy, from self-denial to self-discovery, from darkness to light.

Rounding out the recordings is an all-star cast of Kentucky musicians, including Jesse Wells (Tyler Childers), who co-produced the album with Jenkins and played electric guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. With the help of Wells, Jenkins recruited Miles Miller (Sturgill Simpson) for drums and Kenny Miles (Wayne Graham) for bass to round out the core recording group. Fans can listen to the entirety of Turning Tides right now at this link.

The Bluegrass Situation caught up with Jenkins about album single “Mockingbird,” and how the tune came about. Jenkins discussed gathering an all star band for his new album, songwriting, and musical influences in a session with Virginia’s public radio, WVTF. Kentucky’s WFPK shared the video for title-track, “Turning Tides,” and asked more about the video, the song, the album, and what’s next for Jenkins. Country In The UK hosted Jenkins for one of their signature “Essential 8” interviews.

The Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, native’s musical versatility—playing everything from country and bluegrass to rock ‘n’ roll—has helped him create a diverse fan base, and he’s built his career on his own, self-funding his projects and doing whatever he’s needed to do to keep his music life rolling. He grew up listening to Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., and later Sturgill Simpson, Eric Church, and Turnpike Troubadours.

Jenkins started writing songs in his senior year at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, and began playing a regular house gig in a bar in town around the same time, continuing to play there for four years. When Jenkins “realized people were responding to these songs,” he recalls, “I wanted to write songs for them. I wanted to write songs people could sing along to. I want to be my own artist but I also believe it’s my job to make people think, feel, dance, and forget about the world for a few minutes.”

In 2015, Jenkins released his first album, Down on Southland, and in 2017 he embarked on a career as a full-time musician, releasing the album  Cityscapes & Countrysides that year. In 2019, Jenkins put out the Cowboy Dream EP and last year he released Hand Me Downs. Jenkins’ pop-drenched country folk gets listeners up and dancing and singing along to the songs, and his heartfelt lyrics stay with them long after the music stops.