Artist: Grayson Jenkins
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Song: “Mockingbird”
Album: Turning Tides
Release Date: August 27, 2021
In Their Words: “I had just broken up with my girlfriend of four years and was a bit of mess at the time I wrote this song. I decided to go camping in my van and to see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan in Milwaukee. Willie and Bob could fix about anything, right? The first line of the song came one morning when a bird was chirping nonstop by my van while I was trying to sleep. I couldn’t get it to leave, kind of like her memory. ‘Mockingbird’ is me saying that I don’t need any help remembering that I screwed up, with a grain of hope that I’d wake up one day and not think of her. It was a good trip, but I didn’t come back with anything but a broken heart, toll tickets, a sunburn, and this song.
“The finished track highlights a lot of the elements I like to hear in my music — verses with imagery, big choruses, and a rocking groove. Miles Miller (Sturgill Simpson) did a great job dynamically on the drums to lift the song in the right places. It was cathartic writing and recording the track; somehow it helped heal the hurt and now it makes me smile when I listen. I hope listeners can relate to the song’s sentiment and find some relief in there, too.” — Grayson Jenkins
Photo Credit: Patrick Brumback
