Grant Langston has been playing his brand of Americana for years, and he’s performing at Cinema Bar on Saturday, January 31, so he chatted with the News about what he has in store for Culver City.
When did you start singing, writing, playing and performing, and when did it start to get serious?
I’m from Alabama and grew up with a rich musical tradition in a culture that really emphasized making music. I was singing in the church choir at 6, playing trombone in the school band at 9, playing the guitar at 10, and piano at 13. I started my first band at 12 with the kids in my neighborhood. By my mid-teen years, I was playing bass in a touring gospel quartet and in the high school jazz band. While in college at Auburn, I played in a rock band and guitar/bass for the touring Auburn Singers. I suppose I’ve been hip deep in music my entire life. I was serious about music even then, but at 22 I moved to LA to play music and make that my main focus.
How do you describe your sound/style now?
I think the best genre description is Americana. It’s equal parts country, honky-tonk, and roots rock. I see it as much more of a California country style of music, or maybe Texas, than Tennessee country music. I try to write songs that are universal and focused on things that we can all relate to. I feel that much modern country music is about celebrating lifestyle as opposed to human experience. I try to push back against that.
What have you been up to since we spoke in 2022?
I released a new record in 2024 called Alabama. It is a long story, but a good lesson for artists today. The record was stolen from me prior to release. I was notified by my digital distributor when I uploaded the songs that this material had previously been released. When I pointed out that this could not be true, they sent me a link to an “artist” that was up on all the streaming platforms with a collection of songs that were mine. The titles were different but they were my recordings. My record had been hijacked!
What followed were many months of filing legal claims and copyright infringement paperwork while, essentially, begging Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, etc in the US and around the world to take down this stolen music so I could release the legal version. At one point, they all either took no action or said they didn’t think my case was sufficient. It was maddening.
In the end, the radio promotion and press promotion were largely ruined as I could not be sure when or if I would get the rights back to my own recordings. However, I did have a guardian angel. A friend at Universal Music Group who took it on himself to work on this issue. Thanks to his help the stolen music was eventually pulled down and my versions were put up.
This consumed much of 2024. I’ve learned many lessons about protecting music and legal actions. I did end up doing a radio promotion tour to tell the world about the record and it did chart in the Americana charts. But it was a scarring experience, to say the least.
Despite all that tough stuff. I did place some music over the past year. A couple of songs in the Sylvester Stallone TV show Tulsa Kings, and another in Walker – Search and Rescue. It’s always a good day when that happens.
What recorded music is available — particularly the most recent?
Yes, Alabama is now available on all streaming services and for download at Bandcamp.
What are your memories of your last Cinema Bar show?
I play there in the fall. A photo is attached. It was heavenly. I had one of the country’s best bassist and producers with me, Ted Russell Kamp from Shooter Jennings’ band. We rocked the house!
What can we expect from the set this time?
January 30th is going to be a big night. First off the opener, David Serby & The Hillbilly Fringe are filming a video during their 9pm set. That will be fun. Then I’m going to have a well-known Cinema Bar guitar hero, Johnny Hawthorn from the band The HawThorns, coming in from Nashville to play with my band, The Grillmasters. He is in town for NAMM and the local fans will remember Johnny’s many years as a player in LA.
What else do you have going on this year?
I’ve started the basics of recording more music – buying gear, picking out players, finalizing the songs. I’m also in the early stages of starting a record label with some other industry people. That should help us get more music out to people. I’m sure a future show at The Cinema Bar is in the books somewhere. I can’t get enough of that place.
Grant Langston performs at 9 p.m. on Saturday, January 30 at the Cinema Bar. Go to thecinemabar.com for more information.
Elsewhere this week
The next concert at Boulevard Music is on January 31, with James Lee Stanley. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more info.