AltarTV

Cory Branan is a Southern troubadour with a throatful of gravel, he’s a tumbleweed of a man with the bruises to show it. But mostly, Cory Branan is a storyteller. And he’s a storyteller to the bone.

The man was born in Mississippi, cut his teeth in Memphis and now works and lives in the burgeoning Nashville music scene. Over the past ten years he’s released two albums of heartfelt and humorous stories to deserved acclaim, a vague mix of bluegrass, country and acoustic folk.

Hear any of his fingerpicked folktales and you’ll be quick to call Bruce Springsteen’s blue-collar soul or Tom Waits’ piano-bar morality his direct ancestors. And you wouldn’t be wrong. Branan’s guitar and vocal pairing transcends his influences and sets him far above any contemporaries, because simply, there aren’t too many people doing what he’s doing right now.

One song that wraps up Branan’s style is the fan-favorite “Prettiest Waitress In Memphis,” which is pretty much the story you think it is: Branan frequents a restaurant with terrible food for the pure purpose of flirting with the waitress who pours his coffee. And that’s a Cory Branan song: simple stories delivered in upbeat folk/blues grooves with his trademark semi-serious charm doing the talking.

Keep an eye on Cory Branan.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Homepage