Take What You Want From Me, a sentiment that reverberates through our lives. Whether it’s said endearingly in offer of hope to a friend, or the angst of being drained of all you have to give. A swaggering verse of roots rock groove sets the scene, mirroring the depths of despair felt through these modern times,‘Nothing left to give, gave it all away, bent out of shape, got to catch a break’. The bridge picks up pace and there's hope that you can ‘Turn it around’ and as it explodes into the anthemic rock and rolling chorus of ‘Take what you want from me, take it for free, you won’t get what you need’ the band take full flight and the intensity dial is ramped up to the red.

Taken from the forthcoming debut album ‘Heart of the Matter’, an album that was on the brink of collapse. With the band's biggest and first fully ticketed tour to date, and some of their most prestigious festival appearances all being cancelled with the impact of Covid-19, it wasn’t looking like it could be finished. Reaching out to their fans to help complete the album, a kickstarter campaign was started and an incredible amount of funds were raised. Just over £9k. This act of community kindness and belief from their fanbase instilled hope and drive to complete the album, and this is the first release from the album sessions.

Take What You Want From Me

True Strays are longtime friends and songwriters Joseph James and James Cameron from Bristol, England who are fast carving out a niche of their own in the UK Americana scene. Their music is a cathartic celebration of alternative roots americana and blues rock. 
Their songs focus on the dirt that life throws at you and how struggle can be transformed into something better. Like all good music, True Strays tap deep in what’s real and create sounds for winding road trips and the promise of the horizon. The prolific songwriting duo draw influences from Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Fleetwood Mac and modern retro inspired acts like Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr and the Black Keys. 
From the rock and roll circumstances of their first meeting in a sand pit in playgroup 30 odd years ago, they have completed countless UK tours, supported bands as diverse as My Baby and Elles Bailey, been jump started by Keith Allen, played by BBC Introducing and BBC Radio, played their first European dates,  survived 70+ festival shows at prestigious festivals like Green Man, Boom Town, Larmer Tree and Shambala and have been featured on the Spotify’s Nu-Blue and Modern Blues Rock playlists.
2021 sees a year's hard work behind the scenes coming to fruition. A recent invite to showcase at the prestigious UK AmericanaFest, a debut album titled ‘Heart of the Matter’ recorded and a main stage slot at Black Deer Festival all on the horizon. With or without live shows, True Strays have a bounty of new music to release this year. 
2020 was going to be their biggest year yet. But it was all washed away by the lockdowns. Their first headline tour cancelled, their first main stage festival slots postponed and their income disappeared. 
Rather than sitting at home feeling disheartened, core members Joe James and James Cameron cooked up a risky plan. Their debut album was written and ready to go but the loss of shows wiped out all their income. With the bank balance at 0, they decided to reach out to their growing fanbase for help. They launched a kickstarter and asked for £4500 to help fund half their album. They hit that target in 5 days. Blown away and humbled by the belief of their fans and friends the debut album was saved. In 31 days, the ‘save our debut album’ kickstarter raised just over £9000.