Grant maloy Smith Ramps Up for a New Album

An upcoming album release from Grant Maloy Smith reaches into a beautiful and roots-driven Americana and country tonality with a set of gorgeous ballads that have heart, show character and personality, and at times, can be very emotionally driven.

"Penny Ballads" is a record that gives off such a warm tone, but that warmth feels incredibly welcoming as well, and this is because Grant is letting you into his life to an extent.

Listening through these songs, you can tell that a lot of them come from authentic places and some service chapters in the artist's life, so he's giving a lot out and when you listen to the record in full, it becomes quite an experience.

The instrumentation across the record is lush and beautiful. You have violins, all kinds of guitars, piano, and so much more, all put together to build this atmosphere that you end up falling right into.

One of my favorite tracks on the record, "Way Down Low", comes through with such wondrously descriptive lyrics that paint a picture as you listen, and this seems to be a staple in Grant's approach to songwriting.

Grant Maloy Smith is quite a storyteller, and his music does an outstanding job of setting the mood for these stories and giving you the right tonality to soak them in.

It's funny because I'm not usually a lyric kind of guy. Of course, I pay attention to lots of lyrics and listen to all kinds of stories told by artists, but I pay more attention to the music of a song first, normally, the guitars, rhythms, progressions, and arrangements.

I do all that with Grant's music as well, but there's something about his lyrics that really wraps themselves around you.

His unique depiction of situations, inner thoughts, and storytelling is so robust that I found myself getting wrapped up in those lyrics first this time around.

This is the type of album you listen to in full. Listening to one or two songs might give you a glimpse of what you may expect from the rest of the record; however, it does not give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.

This is a collection of ballads from Grant, and somehow it still feels like a confluent group of stories being told. It's almost like the album is a concept record, and I feel like that's because he gives so much with his words. Again, it's almost like these songs are chapters in his life.

This is where the connectivity comes in.

His whole-hearted Country approach feels good to listen to. You can tell that Grant has an absolute love for his craft, and when I say that I don't mean playing instruments or singing, I mean writing songs.

These songs will grab your attention, and you'll want to listen to the stories unfold.

Songs like "20 years" have this attraction that you can hear the honesty in along with all of that personality, and it's delivered with this beautiful instrumentation including lap steel, acoustic guitar, live drums, and more.

With all the brilliant instrumentation throughout the course of this entire album, it's Grant's vocals that do the job of delivering the passion.

Believe me, the instrumental performances are outstanding and also have plenty of passion and soul involved, but Grant's vocal performance is really what captures the moment.

He has a natural singing voice that has a perfect authenticity to it so when you listen to his music, you can relate to a lot of it naturally.

This is a pretty big record spanning 11 Tracks in total and is set for release June 20th on all platforms.

Grants label, Suburban Cowboy Records, will do the releasing of the album this summer, and the Billboard top 10 songwriter and recording artist is ramping up for this release as we speak.

Grant Maloy Smith has an exuberant creativity and has been a part of creating everything from music to film, and even books.

The Penny Ballads album will mark a true steppingstone in the artist's career as a musician, and as we prepare for the release this summer, we wanted to sit down with him to talk about this record and what else may be on his plate.

Here's what happened.

RAG: Let's talk about the Penny Ballads album! This was such a great set of songs that encompassed Americana and Country but also blended in a flurry of other approaches at times! Where did this record come from?

I’ve been writing theme albums for ten years - first about the Dust Bowl, then about Appalachia, and most recently about the Mississippi River. I write lots of songs for these albums, which take 3-4 years to complete due to the research. I end up writing far more songs that can fit on the album, so I needed to take a break and assemble these songs onto albums and get them out for people to hear. I decided to segment them by ballads, so this is the first of the three albums that I will put out for my fans. I play most of these songs in my shows, and fans are always asking me which album they’re on. I hated to tell them that those songs weren’t on any of my albums, but that was the truth until now. I really hope that they love these recordings as much as I do.

RAG: I'm hearing a few different approaches on this album! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

That’s a huge question because I have so many influences, from Mozart and Chopin to the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, Jimmy Webb, and everything in between. We songwriters are influenced by everything that we hear in one way or another, even when we’re not aware of it.

RAG: When did this all start for you as an artist and songwriter?

I was about 5 years old when the Beatles were a global sensation. Music became a driving force for me at that early age.

RAG: Are you performing live right now? Any touring in support of this release?

Normally I do 100+ shows per year all around the USA and in Europe, but this year I am reducing that quite a bit because I want to get these “forgotten” songs out. After PENNY BALLADS I have two more albums coming in quick succession: BARN DOORS, a collection of Country songs, and a self-titled album with up-tempo tracks with horns and electric guitars. I can’t wait to share them both, and I aim to get them all done in 2025.

RAG: Did you record this in a home studio setup, or did you go to a big studio for this?

I have a real studio of my own in which the basic tracks are normally recorded. But I also track overdubs by amazing players like Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, Mik Johnson, Matt Combs, Scott Vestal, and more, in Nashville. The songs on PENNY BALLADS were recorded both in my own studio and in Nashville. 

RAG: Now that this is out, what's next?

As I mentioned, I have two more albums coming on the heels of this one! I am working hard on both of them, so that’s my focus at this time.

RAG: Who's in your headphones right now?

I’ll listen to anything from Alison Krause, but I have a wide range of artists that I listen to, across multiple genres.

RAG: Was writing and recording this track a big undertaking? How long did it take to finish this?

The writing has happened over many years, but the recording started in January and was done in early April. I really put my head down and got it done faster than I have ever put out an album. Two of the songs are brand new: “She Walked,” and “But In The Meantime.” I enjoyed cutting these 11 songs in a short time window, and intentionally tried to make them sound like they were recorded in the same week. They hang together like a work of art, even though I wrote them across more than a decade.

RAG: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

Beautiful acoustic songs. I wanted this album to be organic, textured, and absolutely real. All of the songs are ballads, so they should be emotional. Raw and yet nuanced. I hope that everyone hears it that way.

RAG: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

First, my thanks for listening to and loving my music. I get messages every day from people all around the world, and they fill my heart. The response from others is what propels me to continue writing, performing, and recording. I couldn’t do this without them!

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