With all the spiky-haired wannabe rockers and 'tween pop stars masquerading as country artists these days, singer/songwriter Hank Grant serves as a welcomed reminder that real country music is alive and well.Grant's polished tenor recalls the smooth and confident tone of Kenny Chesney, minus the pseudo-Calypso, modern-day Jimmy Buffet angle. In other words, it's a man's voice. Grant has the resume to back up the everyman quality of the characters in his songs. The Arkansas-born crooner is a former Oklahoma police officer who dropped everything and moved to Nashville to hone his craft in earnest. He also has the distinguished honor of being chosen as Stereofame.com's first country artist to win the Artist of the Month prize.
Grant's songs tell stories that are refreshingly authentic and surprisingly personal. The material ranges in topic from ballads of wistful regret to classic fun-loving country swings. "Sounds of Freedom" recounts Grant's struggles through a divorce with endearing honesty while "Stuck Again" is a breezy ode to the simple pleasures of winching a truck out of the mud.
Aided by songwriting partners Bill Hail and Dave Younger, Grant has carved out a brand of honest-to-goodness country that celebrates the "average Joe" point-of-view. Grant credits Hail and Younger with helping him hone and polish his songs into a tightly produced package.
"I'm more of an idea man," Grant said. "But those guys can tell a story about an ant crossing an ant hill and make it interesting."
Grant first came to the attention of the Stereofame community after winning the "Like Dandelion Dust" Movie Soundtrack contest in 2009 with his song "What I Wouldn't Give."
"I call it my musical eBay," Grant said of Stereofame. "I've won a lot of stuff on Stereofame, and I try to tell people to go to it because it's really a unique site. I've pretty much given up on every other site out there and instead, focus solely on Stereofame."
As long as Grant continues to pour his heart and soul into his music, he'll continue to be a fixture in the Stereofame community.
Labels: aom, contest, Hank.Grant
