Here's "Thank You Lord" from Grayson Hugh's album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. This is Hugh's letter to God, a prayer of gratitude.

      ••• words & music by Grayson Hugh •••

I was living
in that house behind the hedge
just a mile from the ocean
I was dangling on the ledge
all direction down to nowhere
it was all of my accord
I was running out of money
and running out of all my hopes and heartbeats
Thank You Lord

I was dreaming of a life
trying to escape
from the streets of New York City
Carolina to the Cape
I was living above the barroom
it was all I could afford
I was running out of reasons
fading as the days turned into seasons
Thank You Lord

It was out of there You led me
my journey had begun
I needed every stumble,
drink and failure, every one
and I never want to go back
to those days when I ignored
the gift of life You gave me
and from that dark and lonely place You saved me
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord
Thank You Lord

© 2015 by River Soul Music/ASCAP

Back To The Soul

Thank You Lord

Here's "Gimme Another Answer" from Grayson Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. Grayson calls this his "Soul meets The Beatles" song.

      •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
I don't have patience
Heaven knows that you do
you keep sayin' maybe
I keep on thinkin' bout you
you say you love me
but you don't know what to do
you say don't rush me
every time I put this question to you
keep tellin' me maybe now

Gimme another answer
gimme another answer, ooh hoo hoo
gimme another answer baby
any other words will do

Every time I try to talk to you
I can't even sleep at night
you don't even listen to me baby
talkin' turns into a fight
you say you love me
but we had nothin' new
my heart won't let me
rest until I get through to you
keep tellin' me maybe now

Gimme another answer
gimme another answer, ooh hoo hoo
gimme another answer baby
any other words will do

Words of love
they don't work babe anymore
time for some action baby
I don't wanna leave
but I'm lookin' at the door

I give you what you want
I give you what you need
baby do I have to get down on my knees and plead?

You say I'm crazy 
not to be satisfied
we're together
and we're doin’ good, doin' just fine
well tell me please
if I left you today
would you even cry
to try to make me change my mind and stay?
don't wanna hear it now

Gimme another answer
gimme another answer, ooh hoo hoo
gimme another answer baby
any other words will do
gimme another answer
gimme another answer, ooh hoo hoo
gimme another answer baby
any other words will do
another answer, another answer 
another answer, another answer
another answer

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

Gimme Another Answer

Here's "Put Your Feet In The Water" from Grayson Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. With a foot-stomping New Orleans style groove on the piano, Grayson serves up a Memphis-meets-the-Big Easy gumbo on this track. The lyrics are actually quite spiritual in nature, about putting your feet in the stream of the common river of all beings' souls.
                       LYRICS
      •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
Put your feet in the water
feel it tumblin’ down
like the night it comes fallin’
from the mountain to the ground

There’s a message in the water
stones are singin’ in the ground
the words are bright
in the still moonlight
light shinin’ all around
got to put your feet
your feet, feet, feet in the water

Put your feet in the water
it's alright with me
don't hesitate
it ain't ever too late
no need for misery

Put your feet in the water
don’t stay on the shore
gotta jump in
baby begin
that’s what we’re here for

I’ve seen the red-tailed hawk 
come down from the sky
I know she’s watchin’ me
swimmin’ in the movin’ tide
feelin’ all the love inside

Put your feet in the water
get up off the floor
put ‘em down into the current
you’ll be askin’ for more

There’s a spirit in the water
talkin’ to you and me
there night and day
it won’t go away
step inside and you will see
got to put your feet
your feet, feet, feet in the water

Put your feet in the water
bring your body down too
bring your mother and your daughter
you know that it’s good for you

There’s a secret in the water
in the shape of a song
it’s deep inside
let’s go for a ride
just don’t wait too long
got to put your feet
your feet, feet, feet in the water
yeah hey yeah yeah yeah yeah
how hum, how hum, how hum
how hum, how hum, how hum
yeah no no no
get on down baby, get on down
get on down, swimmin’ all around 
on down, way down, way down, hey hey
from the mountain to the ground

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

Put Your Feet In The Water

Here's "We're Gone Again", a song about an irresistible attraction, and a dangerous love affair that's like a drug. You know you should end it, but you keep going back. And once you get near it, you're trapped. You're gone again. (From Grayson Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records.)
         •••LYRICS•••
•••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••

(mmm… oh baby)
The kind of silence 
that we make
it goes so deep
it cannot break
when we get stuck
there by the fire
I'm paralyzed 
with pure desire
your eyes they glow
with a flame that will not end
we're gone again
we're gone again
                
Oh we try to speak
but we start kissin'
we're makin' up
for all the time we've been missin'
my knees are shakin'
my hands are hot
we just might never
ever leave this spot
we try to say goodnight
now it's 3 am
we're gone again
we're gone again, babe

This is the love
that we used to make
this is the dream
from which we cannot wake
and I don't want to
break this trance
I don't dare disturb
a moment of this dance
this is our beginning
the middle and the end
we're gone again
we're gone again, babe

We've been here before now
and we'll be back again
we're gone again, gone again
don't know how and I don't know when
we're gone again
gone again, gone again
oh Lord have mercy
we're gone again

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

We're Gone Again

Here's Grayson Hugh's thinly veiled autobiographical take on the Faustian 'deal-with-the-devil' tale, as told by a musician. "Rock 'n Roll Man", from Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul", features a rockin' guitar solo by musical guest Pete Anderson, the Grammy-winning blues, roots and twang-funk guitarist and producer. "Grayson Hugh is a great artist", says Pete Anderson. Well, Grayson Hugh says "Pete Anderson is a GREAT roots blues guitarist, from his producing and playing lead guitar with Dwight Yoakum for years, to his production of albums by Roy Orbison, Lucinda Williams and Michelle Shocked. He is the man!"
         
      •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
(Hey, hey, hey, hey)
I was seventeen when I left home
(whoa)
I had to leave, I had to roam
(whoa)
I got thrown out of three high schools
(whoa)
I didn't fit, I broke the rules
(whoa)
but I had somethin' that could soothe my soul
(whoa)
I could play that music called rock 'n roll
(play that music, rock 'n roll
play that music, rock 'n roll)

I told my father and my mother
(told my father, and my mother)
they said "school or a job, son, it's one or the other"
(school or a job, one or the other)
so I got me a job as a laundry man
(got me a job as a laundry man)
I played all night with my rock 'n roll band
(played all night, rock ’n roll band)
after a while I split, it seemed kinda lame
(I moved out, seemed kinda lame)
I got outta there to seek my fortune and fame
(got outta there, fortune and fame
play that music, rock ’n roll,
play that music, rock ’n roll)

Don’t you know I’m gonna do every thing I can                      
to make my livin’ as a real live Rock ‘Roll Man
might think I’m crazy but it’s all I want to do
I’m gonna have a record on the radio, next time that I see you

Then one night I was playin’ some blues
(whoa)
a man walks up wearin’ fancy shoes
(whoa)
he said “Son, I’m gonna get you a record deal”
(whoa)
“you’ll be rich and famous, make the women squeal”
(whoa)
I signed right there on the dotted line
(whoa)
I was doin’ good, I was feelin’ fine
(whoa)

So I got me a house at the top of the hill
(got me a house, top of the hill)
had cars and cash, losta whisky to swill
(cars and cash, was a thrill)
then one day I lost it all
(then one day, lost it all)
they robbed me blind, I took a fall
(robbed me blind, took a fall)
but I got somethin’ that can soothe my soul
(I got somethin’, soothe my soul)
I can play that music called rock ’n roll
(play that music, rock ’n roll
play that music, rock ’n roll
play that music, rock ’n roll
play that music, rock ’n roll)


© 2015 Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

Rock 'n Roll Man (featuring Pete Anderson)

Here's "It's Got Soul" from Grayson Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. As long as you can feel it, it's got soul..

      •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
Feel like hearin' music
rollin' down the hood
you can blast it on the rooftop baby
up there it sounds so good
make sure when you turn it up
it's doin' what it should  -  git down 

Long as you can feel it, that's alright
long as you can feel it, groove all night
darlin' can't you feel it, that rock and roll?
long as we can feel it, it's got soul

It came in through the country and the city too
come down in the delta and the fields
sung in church where every word was true
no matter where you're from
who you are, what you do  - git down  

Long as you can feel it, that's alright
long as you can feel it, groove all night
darlin' can't you feel it, that rock and roll?
long as we can feel it, it's got soul

Oh now you just can't explain
how the music makes you feel
goes right past your brain into your bones
into your heart to what is really real
do you feel - feel, feel, feel, feel?

Watchin' my baby move real good
up and down the floor
like havin' cake and sweet love and coffee all together
makin' me want some more and more

Long as you can feel it, that's alright
long as you can feel it, groove all night
darlin' can't you feel it, that rock and roll?
long as we can feel it, it's got soul
long as you can feel it, that's alright
long as you can feel it, groove all night
darlin' can't you feel it, that rock and roll?
long as we can feel it, it's got soul
it’s got soul, it’s got soul
it’s got soul, it’s got soul
it’s got soul

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

It's Got Soul

Here's "Already In Love With You", Grayson Hugh's song for his wife and harmony singer Polly Messer, from his 2015 album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. Grayson and Polly have known each other since 1981. Before meeting Polly, Grayson had worked and been great friends with her husband (the late Ron Scalise, winner of 14 Emmys for his ground-breaking audio work with ESPN). Ron recorded and produced all of Grayson's music since 1975: countless songs, a dance score for the late choreographer Viola Farber and Grayson's first self-titled album, released on Ron's independent label Nineteen Records. Ron also did live sound for Grayson's bands (Haiku, The Grayson Hugh Quartet, Grayson Hugh & The Wild Tones). They even wrote and produced two indie comic films together: "Balboa" and "The Mysterious Hawaiian".  Polly and Ron had a son in 1991, Rosario, but divorced in 1994. As time passed, all three of them stayed good friends. 

So in 2006, when Grayson began work on his album "An American Record", Polly and Ron were delighted to hear of the musical comeback of their old friend Grayson. Though he was tremendously busy recording live sports for ESPN, Ron was even considering mixing Grayson's album, when, tragically, he died in a car accident just a few days before Christmas in 2007. 

Sometimes the connections between people - so seemingly random at the time, yet, in hindsight, life-long - are known only to God. As life moves on, these deep connections are revealed in His time. Such is the story of the connection between Grayson and Polly, told in this song.

On this track: Grayson Hugh(lead & harmony vocals, piano, Hammond B3 organ), Polly Messer(harmony vocals), Casey Meyer(guitar), Albert Rogers(bass), Camron S. Dudley(drums), Glen Tippett(saxophones).

      •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
I remember
those long ago days
back when my life
was all in a haze
you called me up
from right down the street
said let’s get coffee
why don’t we meet?

I was with her
and I didn’t know what to do
but I was already in love with you

The time wasn’t right
we had to move on
I was stuck in a sad love
and I knew it was wrong
we’d see each other
all through the years
we’d meet at the edges
of our good times and our tears

There was something
between us that we knew
and I was already in love with you

Now when I look back
it all seems so clear
I took every step I needed
to get me to here
and if I had known
what this journey would cost
I might just have stayed home
never knowing what I had lost

I would have missed out
on a miracle 
yes its true
I was already in love with you
I am so grateful
for all I’ve been through
cause I was already in love with you

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

Already In Love With You

Here's "Gettin' On With My Life", from Grayson Hugh's new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. 

      •words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
I been stuck here by the roadside
for way too long
now it's time to get movin'
get to where I belong
everybody’s been tellin’ me
it’s time to get away
I know I'm gonna get there
somehow, some way

I'm gettin' on with my life
and I’m goin’ without a care
I know this direction
is gonna take me somewhere
I'm gettin' on with my life
now a new day is here
I'm gonna give up my excuses
all my sorrows, sadness and my fear

Lord it’s hard to leave you
we been together for so long
but I gotta heed this feelin
I know staying would be wrong
I been tellin’ myself a story
and I been tellin’ it to you
I found myself believin’ it
now I know what to do

I'm gettin' on with my life
and I’m goin’ a care
I know this direction
is gonna take me somewhere
I'm gettin' on with my life
I was caught in a snare
took a while for me to see it
see through this whole sad affair
so lost in the dark
now I’m out of there

Passing pine trees as I go
I’m leaving the coast and clay
and all the things I know

I’m drivin’ down the interstate
I can hear that highway wind
it’s comin’ from the western ocean
blowin’ back east again
Ain’t nobody gonna find me
don’t you try to write to me
no tellin’ where I’ll wind up
but I know I’ll be free

I’m gettin’ on with my life
and I’m goin’ without a care
I know that the road
is gonna take me somewhere
I’m gettin’ on with my life
cause now a new day is here
I'm gonna give up my confusion
and I’m happy
so happy now that I’m here
gettin’ on with my life, yeah
cause I’m goin’, I’m goin
I’m goin’ on

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP



Gettin' On With My Life

Here's Grayson Hugh's song "We Were Havin' Fun", a celebration of the carefree days of youth and Summer, when "there was nothin' that could bring us down" and "the music could never grow old".  From his new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records.

     •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
Back when Summer was a feelin’
and there was sunshine all around
back in the day 
that radio would play
and the music would never let you down

We were so young and light-hearted
back when life was on a roll
everything was right
we’d be dancing all night
and the music it could never grow old

Didn’t know, didn’t know
didn’t know where we were gonna go
in the sun, on a run
you and I we had nothin’
but we were havin’ fun

Come home late from the party
maybe not come home at all
playin’ those tunes
lightin’ fires in the dunes
in the distance
we could hear the foghorn call

We were so young and exicted
there was nothin’ that could bring us down
stay up all night
til the early blue light
in the mornin’ we’d get up and go to town

Didn’t know, didn’t know
didn’t know where we were gonna go
in the sun, on a run
you and I we had nothin’
but we were havin’ fun

Didn’t know, didn’t know
didn’t know where we were gonna go
it was new, me and you
in the dawn, in the field all full of dew
didn’t know, didn’t know
didn’t know where we were gonna go
in the sun, on a run
you and I had a nothin’
but we were havin’ fun
we were havin’ fun
we were havin’ fun
we were havin’ fun

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP

We Were Havin' Fun

Here's Grayson Hugh's song "Everybody's Hangin' On" from his new album "Back To The Soul" on Swamp Yankee Records. It's a plea for love, tolerance, kindness and generosity in a world so often filled with greed, hate, violence and fear.

     •••words & music by Grayson Hugh•••
We don't have it half so bad
we don't have to worry
just livin' on the planet
always in such a hurry
everybody on the streets
in this big family
everybody that you meet
has got the same destiny

Everybody's hangin' on, hey baby
Everybody's hangin' on
Everybody's hangin' on, hey baby
Everybody's hangin' on
 
They keep on makin' us
new promises to break
right or wrong, it can't go on
there won't be nothin' left to take
look at what's been happening
there just ain't no excuse
mother earth is suffering
from all the years of our abuse

Everybody's hangin' on, hey baby
Everybody's hangin' on

Can't you see the eyes of your sister & your brother?
Can't you see the soul behind the face?
We should be lookin' out for one another
'cause all of us are sharing the same time & space

Baby, I know, I know the world is gettin' smaller
and we don't have much time to spare
what we end up doin' today-
tomorrow might be too late to care
rich people of the world,
would you stand in the poor man's shoes?
spend your fortunes fearlessly
'cause we've all got way too much to lose

Everybody's hangin' on, hey baby
Everybody's hangin' on
Everybody's hangin' on, hey baby
Everybody's hangin' on

© 2015 by Swamp Yankee Music/ASCAP


Back To The Sou;

Everybody's Hangin' On

 "Grayson Hugh, like soul music idols Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye, is at his absolute best when wearing his heart on his sleeve and being totally transparent. In fact, Hugh goes way beyond keeping it real – he keeps it honest. With his feet firmly rooted in the soul and blues of Memphis and New Orleans, Hugh has crafted a record that is about as eloquently biographical as a music project can be.

The one quality of Hugh’s career that stands out to me, besides his talent, is patience, and Back to the Soul is a patient record. Hugh is an expert storyteller who doesn’t rush his delivery. He allows the stories contained in his songs to unwind and that will bring a sense of satisfaction and a deeper appreciation of his struggles and gifts with each listen. This album beautifully completes a more than three decade story of a talented artist who, after too many years away, found his way back to his musical home. Strongly Recommended."

  - Howard Dukes, SoulTracks.com, August 17, 2015

Acclaimed singer-songwriter & blue-eyed soul legend Grayson Hugh returns to his southern soul roots with this exciting album of twelve new songs, featuring his passionate singing, deep poetic lyrics, masterful piano and organ playing, and one of the most hard-grooving and funkiest bands south of the Mason-Dixon line. 

BACK TO THE SOUL By Grayson Hugh

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