Recapturing one’s youth is the promise of many potions and product makers. But, for Oklahoma-born musician Graham Colton, the desire to reclaim the past had nothing to do with appearances.
At the same time the 32 year-old matured as a successful entertainer, Colton longed for that feeling he enjoyed some twelve years ago when it was all brand new. It’s a goal he seems to have achieved while working on the material for his new, self-produced album Lonely Ones.
“The way I had to do that was basically tear everything down that I was used to doing and make myself the most vulnerable (as) I could,” Colton said.
“The first thing was really trusting my producers, trusting my friends and people that have known where I’ve come from,” Colton said.
Those friends told Colton to put down the guitar.
“Don’t write a single song on the guitar,” Colton said. “And that was terrifying.”
Using a keyboard he borrowed from Flaming Lips front-man Wayne Coyne, Colton set out to find his muse.
“That has, I think, proved to be a successful experiment for me,” Colton said.
“Pretty much every song was either written on a keyboard, or it was written without an instrument. I relied on my bandmates to make noise in the studio, and the noise became melodies, and the melodies became lyrics, and the lyrics became songs. And that was… pretty cool,” Colton added.
Lonely Ones came out in January, but Colton is just now embarking on a mini-tour of Oklahoma to showcase the new material with his full band… and as he put it, he’s “ready to rock.”
“There’s a song on the record called ‘Hands Untied’ which has kind of risen to the top for me, not only lyrically… I think the energy it has sort of represents, I don’t know, a new energy,” Colton said. “I’ve kind of discovered this new place and I’m not afraid of it, and I’m diving in head first.”
Graham Colton plays to a hometown, Oklahoma City crowd this Saturday, March 29 at the Bricktown Music Hall.
“The tour that we’re on right now is so different,” Colton said. “It requires more of me. These things happen on stage that are like brand new every night, and that’s why I keep doing this.”
