best overall
Story By Mike Overall, Photo By Susan O'Connor

When the eclectic, superbly talented Grant Garland says he will go where his music takes him, he is intermingling the literal with the figurative. And if he makes that move, Garland could find himself on an artistic odyssey, one that could take him through time and space, from hither to yon, whether it is from one end to the other of this or possibly even another country. Garland’s music means the world to him, which is precisely why he is poised to negotiate it by taking whatever leaps and bounds it may demand of a man for whom music is the essence of life itself.

“There’s nothing I’d rather do than perform as a professional musician,” Garland said in a recent interview. “And wherever that desire may take me, then so be it. I’ll just move where the music takes me,” from a physical as well as an artistic perspective. “Relocating is something I’ve considered a lot, whether it’s to Nashville, where I currently have a CD in production, or to any other place where there’s music and entertainment in demand.”The 26-year-old Garland, a Corning native and Jonesboro resident who received his bachelor of arts in music and a minor in marketing from Arkansas State University in 2004, has the versatility and talent one would expect of a 21st century musical troubadour. When, years ago, he found himself getting bored with playing one instrument, Garland spent the ensuing time transforming himself into a multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, guitar, piano, with some saxophone, harmonica and bass thrown in for good measure). He is also an accomplished vocalist as well as a composer and lyricist. And when it came to icing his musical cake, Garland learned how to make his way around a recording studio, where a knowledge of electronics and the ever-changing revolution in digital technology have helped him hone his professional skills as an artist and entertainer of the first rank.
Garland hopes recording and production work on his new CD will be completed within a month. “It’s now in the works at Fox Mountain Studios in Nashville,” he said. “The album will contain ten or eleven original tunes, with at least one cut featuring horns and strings.”

Former Jonesboro resident and musician Brad Vosburg is engineering the album, Garland said, which will be “shopped around to see if there are any takers for a collection that runs the gamut from rock, R&B (rhythm and blues) with a New Orleans ‘feel’, some pop sounds, old Memphis soul and some down-home funk sounds.”

The young musician/entertainer knows the music business is rife with all manner of vagaries, and is under no illusions regarding just how difficult and exasperating producing a “hit” album may be in a bottom-line-obsessed business whose practitioners, movers and shakers are frequently more than willing to sacrifice, sometimes in the most cutthroat manner imaginable, artistic quality for the sake of the almighty dollar.

He also realizes that blind luck or sheer chance may play a pivotal role in determining what “sells” in the music business, and is quite aware that in the realm of business, politics and politicians of all stripes influence and peddle their musical wares in an industry where overt commercialization and outright hucksterism often take precedence over an artistically rewarding “product” when blatant salesmanship is applied with a commercial vengeance.

As is the case in so many business ventures, Garland said, “it’s sometimes who you know and what break may come your way” that can determine whether or not an album will end up on the discard shelf, or “take off” and generate some degree of success for the artist.

Although he has an abiding love for jazz, for example, Garland does not prefer to be labeled as a jazz musician. “I don’t like to be pigeonholed because I play and sing many different kinds of music,” he said. “My influences have come from many styles or genres of music.

“My parents had good taste in music, my father especially, who introduced me to the great jazz bandleader and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat and Tears. Another big influence on me has been Charlie Wood, an organ player in Memphis who’s just fantastic. I’ve also listened to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, and the great jazz trumpet player and singer Chet Baker, who had a unique voice and whose songs I taught myself to sing when I was in college.

“Then there’s the soul singer Marc Broussard, and, again in the jazz realm, the incredible trumpet player Clifford Brown,” a virtuoso improviser whose amazing technical facility never impeded his ability to play music that was as beautiful as it was daringly improvisatory. The singularly gifted Brown was killed in an automobile accident when he was only 26 years old, but his profound influence on trumpet players and great musicians in general continues to this day.

The musician also praised his band director in Corning, Greg Bruner, for steering him in the right direction during his formative years as a musician.
Garland the artist refuses to separate himself from Garland the entertainer, and adamantly refutes all claims that the two are mutually exclusive in the realm of the artistic. When he is performing, Garland is always attuned to the mood, attentiveness and enthusiasm of his audience. His philosophy as an entertainer is simple: “When they pay me to play and sing for an audience,” he said, “I’ll do my very best to please and inspire that audience to the best of my ability.”

To those who know him, Grant Garland’s admiration and respect for the late Sammy Davis Jr. are well known. “What a talent! He was the greatest entertainer of all time ... a wonderful singer, a great dancer, a master of many instruments, a wonderful comedian. His presence on the stage was electrifying.” To Garland, Davis was the be-all, end-all of the artist-as-entertainer.
Garland, along with bassist Derek Doyle and drummer Ben White, both of Jonesboro, are currently performing every Monday and Tuesday night from 7 until 11 at Club 152 on Beale Street in Memphis. In Jonesboro, Garland and company are at the 501 Club & Restaurant every Friday and Saturday night from 9 p.m. until midnight.

Grant Garland loves plying his art and craft as a professional musician and entertainer. And if there’s any justice in this fickle world, the young man from Eastern Arkansas may one day find himself singing and playing for audiences at a far remove from the places where he first learned his skills and started earning his keep as a professional artist whose music emanates from the wellsprings of his artistically capacious heart and soul.

July Music Lineup

KASU’s Blues/Bluegrass Concert Series - July 7, Blue Monday, Sandy Carroll, Sheffield’s in downtown Jonesboro, 305 South Main, dining with music at 7; July 21, Blue Monday in Paragould, Guy Venable & Lyn Jones, Brittny’s Steakhouse in Paragould, 7 p.m.; July 28, Bluegrass Monday, Harman Family, Atkins Celebration Hall, 101 South Pruett in downtown Paragould, music at 7. All events are free but donations to musicians encouraged.

The Edge Coffee House, 1900 Aggie Road, adjacent to ASU campus; Jazz Alliance, every Tuesday from 7-9 (Craig Collison, associate professor/director of percussions studies at ASU, vibraphone; Ron Horton, associate professor/director of jazz studies, trumpet; Mike Overall, retired newspaper editor and reader’s adviser for Jonesboro Public Library, drums; Corey Emerson, band director at Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Middle School, bass).

Brickhouse Bar & Grille, downtown Jonesboro, July 1, Paul and Jess; July 4-5, TBA; July 11, Memphis Yahoos; July 12, Starroy; July 18, Paul and Jess; July 19, Brickhouse All-Stars; July 25, Jess Hoggard Band; July 26, PF Flyers.
501 Restaurant & Club, 2628 Philips Drive, Grant Garland and Friends, every Friday and Saturday, 9-12 (Grant Garland, vocals and keyboard; Derek Doyle, bass; Ben White, drums).

The versatile and highly popular group Plain Meanness is working on several July dates, said Greg Arnold, owner of Back Beat Music on Southwest Drive. The band’s Web site is www.plainmeanness.com.