Biography

Candor and vulnerability cascade out of Grayson Jenkins’ songs on waves of circling guitar strums and sparkling choruses. Like fellow Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson, Jenkins tells stories with a shrewd sincerity, a hopeful resignation, and a canny insight into the ways of the world. Like Eric Church, Jenkins’ resonant baritone vocals echo powerfully enough to fill large halls, and like Keith Whitley, Jenkins sings with a tenderness that cradles his lyrics and delivers them to our hearts. The Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, native’s musical versatility—playing everything from country and bluegrass to rock ‘n’ roll—has helped him create a diverse fan base, and he’s built his career on his own, self-funding his projects and doing whatever he’s needed to do to keep his music life rolling. He grew up listening to Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., and later Sturgill Simpson, Eric Church, and Turnpike Troubadours. Jenkins started writing songs in his senior year at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, and began playing a regular house gig in a bar in town around the same time, continuing to play there for four years. When Jenkins “realized people were responding to these songs,” he recalls, “I wanted to write songs for them. I wanted to write songs people could sing along to. I want to be my own artist but I also believe it’s my job to make people think, feel, dance, and forget about the world for a few minutes.”