Matt Wickstrom
July 30, 2025
Grayson Jenkins ‘Country Parables’ Review
Ever since falling in love with songs like “Junior Walker,” “Lincoln” and his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” on 2017’s Cityscapes & Countrysides I’ve been enamored with the music of Grayson Jenkins.
In the near decade since the Muhlenberg County born singer’s aura has only continued to grow as he captivate listeners with an introspective, raw and blue-collar collection of songs that showcase his penchant for writing riffs that hit you like a prizefighter’s knockout blow (“Mother’s Day”) just as often as he conjures up 90’s inspired country bangers (“Low Down Lady”).
But that reflection inward goes deeper than ever before on Jenkins’ new record Country Parables. Released July 25, the Pony Bradshaw produced project recorded in Little Rock, Arkansas touches on everything from death “(“Scarecrow”) to growing older (“Taxes & Time”), the dissolution of the American Dream (“Good Times Go”), and much more.
The project also features a (mostly) familiar sound for fans of Jenkins’ music, but with Tulsabased studio musicians Paddy Ryan (Parker Millsap, John Fullbright), Jesse Aycock (JR Carroll, John Moreland), and Aaron Boehler (Wilderado) and Nashville’s Fats Kaplin (Jack White, John Prine) backing him up rather than the customary Kentucky players that typically do so in his live band. One of the few exceptions is “Grand Slam,” a song that starts off slow before picking up pace by leaning into New Orleans, zydeco-infused vibes courtesy of Kaplin’s accordion.
After seeing Jenkins celebrate the release of Country Parables this past Sunday with an intimate concert inside Burl Brew in Lexington, I felt inspired to write about his new batch of tunes in more detail. So without further adieu, here’s my track by track look at the new record.
“Old Trails”
A ballad about learning and growing from life’s “rainy days” by leaning on your support system trying times arise, “Old Trails” is a reminder that just because things have transpired in a certain way in the past doesn’t mean the same will happen again.
A ballad about learning and growing from life’s “rainy days” by leaning on your support system trying times arise, “Old Trails” is a reminder that just because things have transpired in a certain way in the past doesn’t mean the same will happen again.
“Hard Heart To Hold”
Dubbed “Hillbilly Springsteen” by Jenkins, “Hard Heart To Hold” also invokes Tom Petty “American Girl”-ish sounds and themes on this banger about an ambitious and free-spirited Kentucky girl with dreams of living under the bright stars of Los Angeles that everyone from her family to potential lovers can’t pin down.
It also contains one of my favorite lines from any Jenkins song — “She smokes cigarettes like a freight train down there at The Burl” — a simple but profound and touching tribute to the venue where he not only celebrated Country Parables’ release at, but that has been the center of countless music memories for him going back years from Bolo Mules bashes to a party celebrating the aforementioned Cityscapes & Countrysides — which was also my first time seeing him live.
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“Nobody’s Stopping You Anyhow” (feat. Brit Taylor)
One of two straight songs on the album co-written with longtime John Prine collaborator Pat McLaughlin (and Magnolia Boulevard’s Ryan Allen), “Nobody’s Stopping You Anyhow” sees Jenkins pairing up with Eastern Kentucky holler queen for a confessional about a failed relationship. Looked back on in hindsight with heaps of humility at where it all went wrong, the somber story is a heartbreaking reminder that not every love story results in a happy ending.
“Grand Slam”
The previously alluded to Big Easy feel on “Grand Slam” references the all-star special at America’s finest culinary institution, Denny’s, on this tongue in cheek recollection of the best (and worst) “country gourmet” experience around.
From the junkie in the kitchen burning his toast to the old sorry coffee, the song is a microcosm of a rolling with the punches during a life lived on the road and the characters you’ll encounter along the way.
“Scarecrow”
This melancholy ballad from Jenkins references everything from his mother’s death to being lonely and consumed by thoughts of guilt and what-ifs similar to what onlookers during the fall of Rome must’ve been thinking. With lyrics like “I’m not lonely so much as I’m alone,” it also contains a yearning of home, both as a stable, regular roof to rest his head under to the sense of family and tight knit relationships that oftentimes accompany it in adulthood.
“Taxes & Time”
“Taxes & Times” reinforces the narrative of the saying that there’s only two things guaranteed in life: death and taxes. This ditty about growing older explores how personal priorities and interests ebb and flow as time marches on. It also stresses the importance of always being humble and aging with grace “like a fine wine” because no matter how old you are or what you’ve experienced, there’s always more to learn.
Good Times Go” (feat. Pony Bradshaw)
Although Jenkins’ duet with producer Pony Bradshaw on “Good Times Go” focuses around a small industrial town left in the past to wither and rot away, I couldn’t help but feel like it also contains subtle hints at the modern day state of the American Dream, or lack thereof.
In addition to delving into that boom, bust and left for dust relationship it also touches on the volatility of love — whether it be toward a person or place — with lyrics referencing “broken hearts on busted tracks” and digging dirt before you ever find gold.
“From Now On”
This electrifying country rock anthem about taking back power over the situations and experiences that haunt you so you can live your best life is a standout from most of Country Parables’ more subdued, contemporary country leaning arrangements. Throughout the empowering song Jenkins reminds himself and those listening that those bad days are in the rear view as he asks rhetorically, “who you gonna be from now on?”
“Calling Out Your Name” (feat. Madelyn Baier)
At least to me, “Calling Out Your Name” almost feels like a sister song to “Scarecrow” with the added glimmer of hope of finding a partner to sing a long and share the journey of life with after longing for a connection like that for so long. That joy is reflected in the soft and heavenly harmonies from Madelyn Baier that further build upon the the story’s intimate and soothing feel.
“Country Parables”
The album’s title track is a blue-collar teaching about putting the work in to build the life you want to live and confronting hardships that come up head on rather than running from them. As it’s name suggest, the closing number hones in on this in the country-focused context of growing up and evolving in a small town where life oftentimes stands still — something also at the center of “Good Times Go” — where “gas ain’t getting cheaper and running sure doesn’t pay.”
