Featured Bonnaroo Artist: Charley Crockett

Today’s featured Bonnaroo artist is Charley Crockett who just announced his new headline summer tour dates, and also releases “Trinity River (Live from the Ryman Auditorium)” – a boisterous highlight from his sold out debut at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN back in November 2022.

A distant relative of Davy Crockett, Charley was born in San Benito, Texas, United States. Raised by a single mother with an older brother and sister, Crockett grew up in a trailer park in Los Fresnos, Texas. His mother relocated the family to Dallas, and Crockett spent the summer months with his uncle, who lived in the French Quarter of New Orleans. When he left high school at the age of 17, Crockett decided to travel with his guitar given to him by his mother which she acquired from a pawn shop. Crockett says “I taught myself how to play and started to write songs immediately, without any chord knowledge or anything. I didn’t know what key I was in for 12 years, but my ear was really good, and I could play in any key and any chord. I just didn’t know what it was.” His early musical influences came from hearing hip hop, and he became fascinated with the samples used. Crockett also said, “I got into Curtis Mayfield through samples of his songs by other artists, and Nina Simone was through a sample. Even J. Cole, I was listening to a song of his (“Kenny Lofton”), and it was based on the sample from the Manhattans version of ‘Hurt'”.

After a breakout 2022, Charley Crockett shows no signs of slowing down in 2023. Crockett makes his Bonnaroo debut this summer, performs at Willie Nelson’s star-studded 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl in April, provides support for select dates of Tyler Childers “Send In The Hounds” tour, and will join Chris Stapleton on select dates of his “All American Road Show” tour this summer and fall. Crockett also plays a special show with Miranda Lambert at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in July, and in addition to Bonnaroo, he’ll perform at Railbird, Blue Ox, Under the Big Sky, FairWell, Catbird and Rocky Mountain Folk festivals in the U.S., LASSO and Winnipeg Folk festivals in Canada, and the End of the Road festival in the UK. He received his first CMT Awards nomination earlier this month, and made his NPR Tiny Desk debut back in February.

Do not miss him at Bonnaroo, you won’t be sorry.