From Texas to Tamworth

We were lucky enough to get some face-time with Australia’s favourite Texan Cowboy, Charley Crockett. Having sold out all of his shows in his 2023 Australian tour, Charley chats to us about the trials of his life before becoming a star, the impact it’s had on his music career and what he’s most excited for when he returns to Aussie shorelines this January, kicking off his first show at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Image Credit: Eric Ahlgrim

I clicked the link in my email and dialed into Zoom. After a few seconds, Charley answered my call. Sitting in what looked to be the front seat of a pick-up truck, a cowboy hat sat tall on his head, Charley greeted me in his deep southern accent. 

Anyone who’s Googled Charley’s background knows that he didn’t have an easy start to life. Growing up in a single-parent household in Dallas, life was tough, and after getting caught up in some trouble at age 19, Charley was forced to pack his bags and hit the road on foot, hitchhiking and train-jumping his way across the United States. 

Having taught himself the guitar while living in Dallas, Charley began to perform on the streets, busking and ‘hobo-ing’ (to borrow a term coined by the man himself) his way across the countryside. From New Orleans to Dallas to San Francisco and New York City, Charley performed – and for years, this is how he got by.

That was until one fortuitous day when Charley was playing with his street band the Train Robbers in the New York City subway – a chance meeting with a Sony Music representative saw him go from street to stage in record time. The rest? Well that’s history. 

You spent a lot of time busking and hitchhiking in your early days. What was that like?

I ended up going in that direction in my life because of hard luck and circumstances. One day I just packed my grip and walked out of town because it felt like it was the best option for me. I was in enough trouble and things were going in a direction where it made sense for me to walk out of town, down the highway and take my chances. I felt like my back was against the wall and I didn’t have anything to lose.

If you want to know how people get into those kinds of situations (when it's real), that's what it is. It’s folks who have nothing to lose – when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose. Looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way because I got a lot of good songs out of it. 

I’m getting overseas more and more but when it comes to the United States, I think I’ve seen every kind of person or situation in this country. Seeing what I’ve seen, you come to have great affection for what people are going through. 

So how has your experience influenced your music and how you perform on stage?

I believe that whatever you’ve experienced in your life,  it's going to come through when you perform for people. So if you pretend to be somebody else, that’s exactly what you’re going to sound like. 

You can’t escape who you are. You can’t escape where you come from and you can’t write about things you don’t know.

What was it like travelling through Australia and performing here for the first time in 2023?

We’re really excited to come over because when we travelled to Australia last year, it was actually the third trip we’d booked. The first time was back in 2018 but I had some health issues and had to get heart surgery, and we canceled the tour so I could recover. Then the second time COVID-19 hit, so we had to cancel again. I guess you could say the third time’s the charm because last year we finally got here.

I’ve been to Europe so many times, but last year was my first time in Australia. It’s as far away as Europe but you can get on a plane to London pretty quickly – there’s no quick way to Australia, and the same for you coming here. 

Australia feels like an alternate dimension in a way because there are so many similarities to the United States, but then there are things about the land and the geography and your culture that remind you very quickly that you’re on the other side of the world.

What was your favourite thing and what are you looking forward to this time around? 

Truly, I was amazed at how good the coffee was everywhere we went, and I was really surprised by the size of the crowds. I can assure you, it took a long time to get my crowds that size in the States. We’ve got 330 million people and you’ve got maybe 25 million people on the whole continent and it's kind of interesting how you’re all spread out across that big land. 

When we were flying around to all the airports in Australia, people recognised me because I stood out pretty easily and there were a lot of people sharing the faraway places they’d come from. It's amazing to hear someone say they’ve travelled five, six or seven hours to see you play for the first time. It was exciting. So this time, we’re visiting more cities and really making sure we get around to see the country. 

I really want to get around to Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast and do some more festivals. I know it’s the middle of the summer for you guys which is a trip for us because it’s the dead of winter here. 

Image credit: Eric Ahlgrim

Want to see Charley live?

Touring the country from East to West, Charley Crockett and the Blue Drifters, supported by Indigenous soul queen Emma Donovan kick off their first show at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. 

To secure tickets to their upcoming performance in Tamworth this Saturday 27 January, click here.