Drayton Farley

with Landon Smith

Drayton Farley

Drayton Farley - A Heavy Duty Heart

Only a few years ago the life Drayton Farley now lives seemed nothing short of a pipe dream: there he was at the time, working the railroads, strumming his guitar, singing his songs for his ass-busting railroad coworkers, dreaming about the life of a touring musician. A dream, he now says, that felt if not illogical than highly unlikely. “I don’t think I was convinced being a musician was even a real possibility,” Farley admits today, looking back at how a smalltown Alabama-raised, music-loving, factory working kid beat the odds to arrive at this current moment.

A proud disciple of a highly vulnerable, evocative and honest brand of Southern storytelling made famous by some of his musical heroes, most notably Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson, the soft-spoken and decidedly humble Farley is learning to accept his new reality. Namely, as one of Americana’s most buzzed-about new singer-songwriters.

“Remember back when we were kids before we had our own/We’d talk a lot about these days like these days would never come/ But somewhere deep inside I knew and I know you knew it too/I couldn’t be more proud to see that we saw each other through.” That’s Farley right there, singing to his wife, singing to himself, singing to his daughters, singing to all those who doubted him, singing on the stunning new track “Dream Come True.” The song is both a declaration of accomplishment and also a moment of reprieve and reflection amid the chaos that’s been Farley’s recent life. Most excitingly, it’s one of the momentous, thrilling new tracks from the singer-songwriter’s stunning new full-length album, A Heavy Duty Heart, due on March 27th via One Riot Records.

“I was taking a bet on myself,” Farley, 30, says of those long and tiring years spent gigging for hours at no-name bars, praying the tip jar would be filled by night’s end, and, through no shortage of innate talent, true grit and undeniable work ethic, earning himself a dedicated fanbase, a Grand Ole Opry debut and gigs sharing the stage with icons including Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam and Ryan Bingham. “It was like winning the lottery in slow motion,” he says of his unyielding perseverance that now, thanks in great part to his remarkable new LP, finds him with a front-row seat to his musical dreams. “It was a truth that slowly showed itself.”

With A Heavy Duty Heart – Farley’s most complete and unflinching artistic statement to date, recorded live in the studio with his touring band – the musician’s talent has come sharply into focus. Poignantly written, beautifully sung and expertly produced by the acclaimed Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell), A Heavy Duty Heart is a statement of an LP – and one that properly introduces Farley as a musical talent to be reckoned with.

Having typically released music nearly as soon as it was completed, A Heavy Duty Heart, written entirely by Farley, was something of an exercise in restraint for the musician: not only are these 10 songs the most contemplative and nuanced of his career, it’s also the first collection of material he feels are truly of a piece with each other. A full expression. A meditation on love and risk.

“This is the first time I’ve felt this way about a set of songs,” Farley says candidly of his unbridled passion for what he’s about to release. And it takes no more than cueing up the opening track, the piercing and authentic “Love We Mean,” – a song that while on the surface is a tribute to his wife, but is also far deeper and real and gets at the core of what love looks like when life and family and obligations come into the picture – to comprehend Farley’s innate gift for vivid, poetic songcraft.

“We deserve a break baby/it’s hard work losing your mind/I’ve been thinking here lately/that we should start takin’ our time,” he sings at the album’s outset.

“It’s truly the realest of love songs. “It’s not a Valentine’s Day card” Farley says proudly of “Love We Mean” noting how this song is a direct reflection of his approach to songwriting: cutting through any surface-level clutter and instead arriving at universal truths.

Whether dissecting dreams realized (“What You Gonna Do”), juggling tough love (“I’ll Hold You”), or overcoming life’s inevitable hurdles (“The Way It Goes”), the songs that comprise A Heavy Duty Heart are that of an artist unafraid to face himself, his loved ones, or even his future ambitions, and hold them all to account.

“I feel like if you're going to write about yourself and your life, then just write about the way it is,” Farley says matter-of-factly of his no-nonsense approach to songwriting. “That honesty is going to translate. People are going to know when you’re bullshitting them or not.”

Farley’s knack for transparency comes through not only on wax but every time he takes the stage. Having typically performed with little more than him and an acoustic guitar, Farley says he’s incredibly excited to put a jolt into his live show when touring behind A Heavy Duty Heart in the coming months. That means more musicians, more uptempo vibes, more energy. “But don’t worry – I won’t be jumping around onstage,” he says with a laugh.

Now, as he sits at the precipice of releasing the forthcoming A Heavy Duty Heart, a time when any previous “nervous excitement” he once felt has since been replaced by “exciting anxiety,” Farley says he’s nothing but proud of where he stands. With the new album. With his career. With his life. Where do things go from here? “There truly is no limit,” Farley says with a smile.

Landon Smith