{"id":1821,"date":"2012-11-26T15:57:29","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T20:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nowthissound.com\/ntsib\/?p=1821"},"modified":"2012-11-26T18:43:31","modified_gmt":"2012-11-26T23:43:31","slug":"old-gray-mule-like-a-apple-on-a-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nowthissound.com\/ntsib\/2012\/11\/26\/old-gray-mule-like-a-apple-on-a-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Gray Mule: Like a Apple on a Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CR Humphrey, who is better known under his nom de musicien Old Gray Mule, is a hell of a good guy. It’s clear when you see him play live, when you hear the soulful licks he lays down on tape, when you chat with him, and when you read the notes for the latest Old Gray Mule album Like a Apple on a Tree<\/em>: everything he does is imbued with lots of heart, humor, and flat-out joy. He gives the lie to the “tortured artist” myth – you rarely meet someone more satisfied with his lot in life, even through the struggles, than Humphrey. And it’s evident in all he does. Take for instance, what he wrote about the song “Thanksgiving ’12” from Like a Apple on a Tree<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“I wrote this song in 2008 the day I got home from the hospital after finding out my three week old son was going to live. He’d died in his sleep 5 days before, I found him in his crib, did CPR on him, got him back…and my wife and I spent the next 5 days awake in the hospital with him. It was a miracle, he was going to be ok. I went home to pick up some clothes for Molly and I and when I walked in the door, I felt a need to play my guitar, so I sat down and played this song all the way through. It was Thanksgiving Day 2008. My son will turn 4 this October.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that joyful, tearful relief, that great, big exhalation after five days of breath-holding comes through loud and exhilaratingly clear in the song. This is the sound of a happy, grateful man. <\/p>\n

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