Wayne Haught
Santa Rosa, California, United States | SELF
Music
Press
WAYNE HAUGHT
The Crying Kind
(Resist Not)
ON THIS DEBUT RELEASE, Haught has produced a heartfelt, enjoyable, country gospel record that is, ironically, not at all preachy. The gospel he sings of is inclusive. And those pious, posturing “Christians” who think salvation is only available to them just might be in for a surprise come judgment day.
Haught wrote all 12 songs and recorded the album in his apartment, with simple instrumentation and subtle production. The album is full of clawhammer banjo, acoustic guitar, and gentle mountain fiddle, with the occasional dobro, slide, and accordion thrown in to spice things up.
“Jesus Under Glass” is about worshipping a picture of Jesus instead of finding him in your heart. With a couplet like, “If he were alive today I bet he’d kick your ass/You can’t love nobody with your Jesus under glass,” it’s unlikely you’ll be hearing this song on Christian radio. On “Our Father,” Haught’s sister Annie sings, “Our Father means Our Father/Our Father means everyone’s Father.” She goes on to tell us that God loves Jews and Muslims same as Christians, gay same as straight.
The Crying Kind serves up simple, sometimes moving, sometimes funny, always sincere, songs of comfort and faith. The message is clear: the Lord is for everyone. And beware those who claim to have a monopoly on his approval. - STEVE FRAZIER - Elmore Magazine
It’s a family affair. Joined by his sister Annie, Wayne Haught offers ‘The Crying Kind’, a modern take on classic country gospel. The message, and the story lines, can be traced back to when praying went to its first dance. The rousing spirit of homespun gospel guitars, fiddles and banjo remains firmly in place while lyrically, Wayne Haught contemporizes devotional songs with characters, their outlooks and the ways of describing life showing a calendar date of 2011. Though we are a fragile world, tenderness is in short supply. Wayne Haught gives traditional spiritual songs some tough love. The results show that serving someone needs a harder layer for the modern ages. Jesus gets a hard ass makeover in “Nail Scars” and stars as a “dead man in a picture frame” in “Jesus Under Glass”. Wayne Haught’s message is not the one where the meek inherit the earth, more like ‘hey, want that salvation?.....well, do ya, punk?”. He diaries getting down with demons every night and finds himself on his knees with the preachers wife in “Catching Hell”, looks in on the after party for your favorite bible stories in “Drunk All The Time” and raises a mighty ruckus under a laundry list of wrong turns in “Satan Said Yes”. - Alternate Root Magazine
WAYNE HAUGHT/The Crying Kind: Wild. An alt.cowpunk really from the heartland ricochets back to his roots with a country gospel set that comes from someplace so deep that it can't be an act and it can't help but affect you. When you realize just how alt cats like Johnny Cash were in the first place, it all starts to make sense from a perspective you never considered. Organic doesn't come any better than this. Hot stuff. - Midwest Record
Discography
The Crying Kind - Resist Not Records 2011
Photos
Bio
"This music sounds like it comes from the hills."
That's how one fan reacted after seeing Wayne Haught perform his songs about walking bibles, backslider's wine, catching hell, and Bible beaters before an enthusiastic crowd. A natural born entertainer, Wayne's high lonesome singing style anchors a solo stage show that delights audiences as it confounds their expectations of what will come next. Will he pick an Appalachian banjo tune? Thump a stomp-a-long call to glory on a flattop guitar? Sing an a cappella number from just this side of the grave?
Wayne's songs live and breathe in an earthy homespun style that conjures the past as sure as it fits this moment. He manages to relate old time wisdom in a brand new way, with a sense of humor born of today.
It is the songs Wayne writes that twist the conventions of gospel music into seemingly unconventional but instantly recognizable meanings:
“Jesus under glass dead man on the cross
Nail him to your wall so your soul will not get lost
If he were alive today I’ll bet he’d kick your ass
You can’t love nobody with your Jesus under glass”
- Wayne Haught “Jesus Under Glass”
Here is the Jesus who "loves everyone no matter how they pray," the figment-of-human-thought Satan who always "said yes," The Walking Bible who leads the sheep who-knows-where, and the place anyone at any time can unexpectedly get "The Crying Kind."
Raised in Southeast Ohio by native West Virginian parents, Wayne lived in a number of small towns near the Ohio River. When he was 12 hearing "Live At Folsom Prison" by Johnny Cash ignited within him the power and mystery of song. Soon Wayne was picking a Sears Silvertone guitar and singing along.
Right after graduation Wayne moved to California to pursue music. During the day he was a social worker serving low income minority senior citizens in Oakland and Berkeley, and many of the lovable characters he met at work inspired Wayne's songwriting. At night he sang and played in rockin' country bands. Some said he sounded like Roy Acuff. Others like Dwight Yoakam.
"The Crying Kind," Wayne's debut CD, was released in the fall of 2011 to positive reviews. The Midwest Record said "Wild . . . a country gospel set that comes from someplace so deep it can't be an act and it can't help but affect you. Organic doesn't come any better than this." Wayne simply calls it, "Gospel like you never heard it before."
Wayne wrote the 12 songs on “The Crying Kind” after his mother died. “I was trying to find my spiritual path and realized after she made her transition,” says Wayne, “that I couldn’t move forward until I went back and healed the fear-based view of Christianity our parents taught me.”
Wayne honed his performance skills by playing country and rockabilly music for East Bay alt rockers. He once captivated the crowd at Berkeley’s punk rock institution 924 Gilman Street by playing nothing but Johnny Cash songs.
A public speaking champion, Wayne's between song stories will have you laughing one moment and crying the next. Working for the people of West Oakland and South Berkeley for over 20 years gave Wayne experiences that most middle class white people get no concept of. Having a mother born to a Baptist preacher in Palestine, West Virginia in 1916 brought him a unique life as well. That he is able to relate the beauty and truth of both those worlds is a large part of his appeal.
Wayne loves meeting new people and bringing them joy. He truly believes that what folks have in common far outreaches any perceived differences, and that his role as a singer is to harmonize and unify. Or as Wayne says, "Music is the healer."
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