An Evening with JD Graham

“I knew I would meet my demons in prison and that one of us would die. I just didn’t know which one of us would walk out of there alive.” 

For most of us, these would be very sobering thoughts, the kind of thoughts that would scare a person straight and ready them for battle. But for JD Graham, well, his passion for long-lived self-destruction outweighed any fear he might have had right before the cell bars slammed shut. His 25-year long drug addiction was  an ironclad “shelter” he could take with him anywhere…or so he thought. Those demons that he would, in fact, meet wore many different faces and he came to recognize each one as soon as it reared its ugly head. It didn’t take long for Graham to realize during that waged war that there was another force fighting  alongside him, and that he was going to slay them all. “My faith is what got me sober and keeps me sober.

Graham grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma where he spent the first 30 years of his life developing his skills in hostility and perfected duplicity. An anxiety disorder at the age of 11 introduced him to the wonderful world of drugs when he was prescribed valium, and by age 15 he was raiding every medicine cabinet he  could find. By young adulthood Graham was deep into his addiction as well as his angst, which he showcased through reckless living and slinging guitar in several death metal bands.

In 2010 he morphed into a more southern rock sound with his band Sour Diesel Train Wreck and released an album in 2012 to some national success and shared stages with Reckless Kelly, Stoney Larue, Cody Canada and The Departed, Jason Boland, Turnpike Troubadours, Shooter Jennings and Molly Hatchet. In true coming of age fashion, Graham met some new people and started going to shows and open mics.

His introduction to bands/artists like Cross Canadian Ragweed, Brandon Jenkins and Jason Isbell started to calm the waters a bit by the sheer impact of the truth in their writing. Graham made history at the Arizona State Prison when he was allowed to record his first album “Razor Wire Sunrise.” The title-track was the first song he wrote in prison inspired by the view from his cell each morning and all the decisions that got him there. By the time Graham walked out a free man 5 years later, he had left behind a deep impact on the community there in the form of a very successful music program he started that is still being taught today. With an actual curriculum and over $20,000 in donations, the program sparked a year and a half waiting list for classes.

In 2023, JD Graham officially entered his name into the songwriting annals with the release of his new album “Pound Of Rust” on June 23rd. Recorded at the Skinny Elephant in East Nashville and produced by Neilson Hubbard (Glen Phillips, Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Ben Glover, Amy Speace) and acclaimed songwriter Ryan Culwell, this spacious group of songs are the uninhibited testimony of a man with nothing left to lose. No bells and whistles, just Graham and his guitar, the album’s atmosphere is as raw as its telling captured in a live performance setting

His 2023 release “A Pound of Rust” propelled him to the national touring circuit, performing in intimate listening rooms, songwriter festivals and beyond, with appearances at Mile 0 Festival & Born and Raised Festival. He finished his highly anticipated new album in December 2023 that will release in Spring of 2024.

“My brother asked me what the goal was with my music and I told him connection, whether that was talking to someone struggling on a barstool after a show or telling my story through a song to a crowd of people and reaching a stranger’s heart. Human connection is all I want; I think it’s why we are all here”