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By : Steve B.
6 min read
In my 20s, I worked as a waiter during the overnight shift at an IHOP off an expressway west of Chicago. The patrons were mainly truckers, people that worked odd hours, and barflies done drinking for the night but not yet ready to go home. The mood of the room was what drew me to the job—the resigned, contemplative melancholy captured perfectly by the Hopper painting Nighthawks and the Tom Waits album of a similar name, enhanced by the fact that you could still smoke indoors and smartphones weren’t yet a thing.
This is the mood evoked by the new GracieHorse album L.A. Shit. It’s country music that oozes instead of rides. There is movement that is steady and not rushed, and the songs tell a story that you imagine being told while driving down an empty highway or while sitting on a porch on a quiet summer night. GracieHorse is the work of Gracie Jackson, formerly of the Boston duo, Fat Creeps, and her vocals are the star of the show; they have this amazing dampened, muddy, lethargic feel that is perpetually behind the beat in a way that almost swings.
L.A. Shit is Gracie’s second album since moving to L.A., and her first on Wharf Cat Records. Joining Gracie on the album are her friends from around L.A., many of whom are touring and session musicians who were stuck at home during the pandemic. We here at the Boston Compass are beyond thrilled that Gracie will be performing back in Boston at Fuzzstival on September 15th at the Armory. Join us at the show and pick up a copy of L.A. Shit while you are there.
-Steve B.
Originally published in-print in Boston Compass Newspaper #161 September 2023
Check out all the art and columns of September's Boston Compass at www.issuu.com/bostoncccompass