The Red Clay Strays

BIOGRAPHY

What comes after weathering a season of darkness? A new light cuts through the shadows – and with it, an appreciation for the journey that led there.

The Red Clay Strays don’t just write songs for finding the strength to stand up after life scrapes you across the proverbial floor. On the band’s new album Grateful, they turn survival into jubilation – a celebration of faith, a soundtrack to gratitude and a clear-eyed reflection of the road traveled along the way.

A collection of 11 rollicking, soul-searching songs that can spill out of dance halls on Saturday night and fill church steeples on Sunday morning in equal measure, Grateful chronicles the latest chapter in the Strays’ story from a little-known band to packing arenas with audiences ready to partake in an old-school roots-rock revival. The group set out with something to prove on crowdfunded debut LP Moment of Truth and carved a path through hardship on 2024 follow-up Made By These Moments. Now, on Grateful – the band’s second studio release under RCA Records – the Strays pay tribute to the faith they held in each up-and-down moment.

“Moment of Truth was a big album about having faith in dark times, looking to a higher power,” said Brandon Coleman, the band’s golden-voiced frontman and guitarist. He continued, “and Made By These Moments focuses on realizing those dark times – that you were having to have faith through – made you who you are. You made it through, when you didn’t think you would. And now we’re at a point where we’re grateful. Looking to God in whatever situation you're in is a denominator in all of the albums.”

Andrew Bishop, bassist, shared, “The title of the album’s a literal meaning to us at this moment in our careers. We’re grateful for how we came out of [Made By These Moments] and what we have now.”

For Grateful, the CMA Award-winning band from Mobile, Alabama, re-enlisted Made By These Moments producer Dave Cobb, a sought-after record-maker whose lengthy resume includes Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell, among others. The album captures a sound of time-tested soul and sweat-drenched rock that’s as inspired by the hits born out of Muscle Shoals as it is the fiery riffs once cut inside Capricorn Studios.

To record the album, the six-member group – Coleman, Bishop, Drew Nix (guitar and vocals), Zach Rishel (guitar), John Hall (drum), and Sevans Henderson (keys) – split time between Cobb’s home studio in Savannah, Georgia, and the historic RCA Studio A in Nashville. In returning to Cobb, the band reached a new level of comfort in the studio, often workshopping ideas or writing songs during sessions.

“There’s not a lot of stress on us trying to write a hit or thinking about what fans would like,” Bishop said. “We just do stuff for us and it turns out the fans relate to it, as well.”

The album kicks off with “Demons In Your Choir,” a spiritual rumination that builds from a few notes on the organ and Coleman’s opening lines – “Darlin’ why’d you go and listen? They ain’t got nothin’ good to say/ Now there’s so much life you’re missin’/ so-called friends led you astray” – into a foot-stomping singalong, complete with wall-shaking guitar riffs and a backing gospel choir, conducted by Grammy Award-winning musician Shannon Sanders.

“It’s a different sound,” Coleman said of the opening number. “And this is a different-sounding album, genre-wise. It’s a good way to start it.”

Grateful continues with “Don’t Wanna Know,” a rowdy rock ‘n’ roller that spins a story of infidelity that Coleman said was sonically inspired in-part by the 1965 Charlie Rich hit “Mohair Sam.” As the album rolls on, The Strays take listeners to their native Gulf Coast on “Down South” – a tried-and-true Southern rocker cut in a layered vocal style familiar to fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet and other bands of the time. They channel a freewheelin' spirit on “Fool’s Gold,” which begins with a hip-swaying groove and ends with uptempo howls from Coleman and company. And on the swampy single “People Hatin’,” they call for closed mouths and open ears – a needed lesson for many navigating a divided world.

“People Hatin’” was born out of an open-ended session in the studio. The group started the day with a jam, hunting for a riff that stands out. Or, in Hall’s words, they were looking for that, “oh, hell yeah” moment.

Twelve hours later, they had the song, including the chorus, where gang vocals deliver the lines “Hey, you people hatin'/ You're not listening to what I'm saying.” The next day, they just had to sell Cobb on the idea. Spoiler: It worked out.

“Dave wasn’t on fire for ‘People Hatin’ until we wrote the lyrics and presented ‘em the next day,” Coleman said. “We were like, ‘What do you think of these lyrics?’ He was like, ‘Dude, I just got chills.’”

The album also includes a balladeering tale of devotion and redemption with “If I Didn’t Know You,” where the band captures a universal truth – that sometimes life can feel a little empty until you meet the one you love. In the chorus, Coleman sings, “If I didn't know you, I wouldn't know how to love/ I wouldn’t know what it feels like to be someone's only one.” The song debuted in early 2026, accompanied by a music video starring comedian Matt Rife as the love struck main character.

Grateful offers moments of soulful inspiration, like on standout track “Revival,” a four-and-a-half minute tune that asks listeners to return to the light after spending too long in darkness.

“Matthew [Coleman’s brother and co-writer] and Drew have been sending me songs for 10 years,” Coleman said. “Matthew had written ‘Revival’ in 2016. The lyrics just popped in my head when Dave was playing the [opening] lick. I pulled ‘em up and started singing ‘em to the music.”

Bishop added, “That’s one of the best feelings in the studio, when you know you’ve got something. Everybody clicks at the same time, like ‘Oh, that’s cool.’”

Grateful closes with the title track, where Coleman and the choir capture the band’s thankfulness for this moment in a few simple words. They sing, “Lord I’m grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful.”

Now, the band sets sights on a year that includes marquee appearances at Stagecoach, CMA Fest, Bourbon & Beyond and the band’s own Red Clay Strays Fan Fest, among others. The group embarks this summer and fall on a headlining arena tour, with stops at Madison Square Garden in New York City, TD Garden in Boston, State Farm Arena in Atlanta and two nights at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

After being grateful, what might come next for the Strays?

“We’ll see what the next one is,” Bishop said. “Hopefully it’s a build on ‘Grateful’ and not …” Rishel jumped in, with a laugh, “Not ‘Dead and Gone.’”