Grant Maloy Smith Brings 'Dust Bowl' to Rockwood Music Hall

Nashville recording artist Grant Maloy Smith will celebrate the release of his new album "Dust Bowl - American Stories" with a performance at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City on Thursday, June 22. Joining him onstage will be Cathy Clasper-Torch on fiddle, Richard Ribb on bass, and Rick Couto on drums.

The Dust Bowl was a series of massive dust storms that blew across the Great Plains throughout the 1930s, eventually forcing an estimated 2 million people to flee their dirt-ravaged farms and communities. Blamed partially on poor farming practices that left topsoil vulnerable to drought and winds, the Dust Bowl is widely regarded as the worst man-made environmental disaster in the United States during the early 20th century.

Three years in the making, Smith's album consists of 13 songs about the Dust Bowl. More than a recitation of historical facts, the album brings the disaster to life, with personal stories set to music, about how it affected individuals. One of the ballads, "I Come From America," celebrates the diversity of the migrants who headed west, to California. It is the first single from the album being released to country and Americana radio. (See it here: https://youtu.be/n0dPA-xzMF0)

"My main goal in writing the album was to capture the hardy nature of those people who endured so much, set against the backdrop of this real-life drama," Smith said. "These storms happened over and over, for years. People were sickened from breathing in pounds of dirt each year. 'Dust Bowl - American Stories' is a cautionary tale, but it's also about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of great adversity."

"Dust Bowl - American Stories" has received excellent reviews. The music journal No Depression wrote that Grant's lyrics and music are "as potent as Woody Guthrie, as intense as John Trudell and dusted with the trials and tribulations of Tom Joad - Steinbeck and 'The Grapes of Wrath.'" Meanwhile, The Alternate Root wrote that Smith "gives a soundtrack to the land, its people, and their passage through an era."

Smith is promoting the album with a nationwide tour this summer and fall. Following his show in New York, he will perform at Epicure Café in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 28. Additional appearances will include the WDVX Blue Plate Special in Knoxville, Tennessee on July 17; Kansas City Fringe Festival, July 22-29; Centennial Rodeo Opry in Oklahoma City on August 12; Red Barn Radio in Lexington, Kentucky on September 27; and more. Smith's complete tour schedule is available at www.Grand-Maloy-Smith.com.

Grant Maloy Smith will perform on Stage 2 at Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002, on Thursday, June 22, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance; $12 day of show. Tickets are available at www.rockwoodmusichall.com/.