Greylan James is breaking hearts with Pullin’ From A Bottle
By Alan Shipston for Country Music News International Magazine
Lone piano and a somber vocal open this modern drinking song that cries over the hurtful loss of a love that can’t continue. Greylan watches as the one he’s been with is slowly slipping through his fingers and there is no stopping the momentum except to mask the aching pain by Pullin’ From A Bottle. He sings with a casual inflected drawl as the words tumble out of this self-penned ballad, “Can’t say I didn’t try | but I can’t say it worked | can’t rip a Band-aid off a wound that still hurts.” By the chorus, the full band enters with a quiet power as the chords, underpinned by steel guitar, sparse kick drum and a tambourine, take you on a ride that evokes the sadness of the desperate lyric, ”She’s pushing me away so I’m pullin’ from a bottle | piling on pain that I’ll feel tomorrow | ain’t wasting no time, just diving right in | to what I got to lose, 80 proof deep end.”
The strength of this song is the finely crafted country lyric that is mature and insightful, yet conversational. “Harder I hold on, faster she slips out |of that hand she used to hold riding ’round town |yeah, I wish it was forever, wish I had another fifth | if she ain’t all the way gone, hell, one of us is.” This is yet another story from his album, Water At A Wedding, where James spells out an intimate moment drawn from a collection of songs that tell of an uneasy bride who might be concealing a secret on her wedding day.
With impressive ACM and BMI award wins for his songwriting, Greylan has become a “celebrated songwriter” (Country Now) earning cuts from some of country music’s most notable artists including Kenny Chesney, Morgan Wallen, Cole Swindell, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Bailey Zimmerman, BRELAND and more. The singer-songwriter earned his first ACM Award for Song of the Year, co-writing the Jordan Davis No.1 smash hit, Next Thing You Know. The song also earned Greylan a BMI Award and his first CMA Award nomination for Song of the Year. To date, Greylan’s songbook has landed three No. 1 hits and amassed over 900M streams. And while Greylan has undoubtedly been incredibly successful penning hits for others, he’s absolutely ready to strike out on his own. His growing catalog of songs, including his debut radio single, Wait Til You Have Kids and his buzzy release, Water At A Wedding, highlight why SiriusXM dubbed him “a superstar just beginning to hit his stride” with his “impeccable songwriting and artistry.” Greylan has toured with artists like Old Dominion, Scotty McCreery and just recently wrapped Cole Swindell’s Happy Hour Sad Tour.
From the moment he received his first guitar at the age of 5, Greylan James knew he was meant to be a musician. The Knoxville raised artist has been manifesting his vision of country music stardom since his earliest days. Moving to Nashville eight years ago, James has made the right choices and set his career in motion for a successful arc towards stardom.