Chartbreaker: There's No 'Wondering Why' The Red Clay Strays Are Set For Their Biggest Year Yet

2019 Alabama-born country-rock quintet The Red Clay Strays began to build a core fan base, playing small clubs and festivals in the Southeastern United States in hopes of exposure. “We were a bar band at the time, playing honky-tonks [with] there's no stability, I'm just chasing the dream,” says harmonica player/guitarist/vocalist Drew Nix. In the same breath, he acknowledges the toll this commitment has had on their romantic partners. “We're like, 'Our women got the short end of the stick. I wonder why they like us.”

The idea led Nix and frontman Brandon Coleman, along with songwriter Dan Couch, to write “Wondering Why,” the band's hit from their 2022 album. The moment of truthputting them on the mainstream map.

The bluesy romantic ballad depicts a committed, if unlikely, love story between an upper-class woman and a working-class man. (“I don't know what happened, but it sure doesn't add up on paper/ But when I close my eyes late at night, you can bet I thank my maker,” Coleman croons on the opening verse.) More than A year after its release , “Wondering Why” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 — in late December, no less, even amid the chart's typical influx of holiday songs of all kinds. Now, the band's debut entry climbs to a new No. 71 high on the January 20th-dated charts as it climbs to radio and streaming.

Comprised of Coleman, Nix, Zach Rishel (electric guitar), Andrew Bishop (bass), and John Hall (drums), Red Clay Strays have been making music since 2016, with most of the group meeting during college or through previous concerts. Creating a fusion of rockabilly, gospel, soul, blues and hints of country, Coleman's barrel-chested vocals and 1950s Johnny Cash-meets-Jerry Lee Lewis on stage aesthetic shape what he refers to as “no-name rock'n 'roll'.

While building their sound on the local circuit, the indie band began adding pieces to their lineup, including Conway Entertainment Group's Cody Payne as manager. He first met the group in 2019 as a booking agent and later began working with the group through the company's management arm, Ontourage Management. As his status continued to grow, so did the group's fan base in the community and online: by the time the members felt ready to record a debut album, Payne was instrumental in sparking crowdfunding efforts to help with the financial struggles to pay for studio time.

“I set it up on their website, directly on PayPal,” Payne says. Despite not having an official monetary goal in mind, he remembers thinking that $30,000 would be enough to get the job done—and sold out as the total quickly surpassed that number. “The first week we did over $50,000. by the end of it we had about $60,000.”

Using analog methods in a Huntsville, Ala., studio, the band spent just over a week creating The moment of truth, which was then self-released in April 2022. Although initially met with lukewarm commercial returns, early the following year, Payne recruited Coleman's younger brother Matthew — who is also one of the band's primary songwriters — as a videographer. to help develop The Red Clay Strays' online presence. The band also signed with WME for representation bookings in January 2023, and within months, announced a string of high-profile opening gigs for Elle King, Eric Church and Dierks Bentley.

In May, the band began meeting with a handful of labels, with the members mulling over whether to sign or remain independent — until they met with Thirty Tigers co-founder/president David Macias. “It just made more sense to us,” Coleman says. “Instead of giving us the dog and pony show, David gave us straight advice. There was no stadium. That is what I wanted to hear. If I bet on anyone, I bet on us every time.” By September, after months of touring festivals including Lollapalooza and CMA Fest, Red Clay Strays had officially signed with Thirty Tigers.

With Matthew's help, the band began uploading a plethora of clips, mostly consisting of live performances, to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. “He was putting out reels and the social media numbers kept going up,” says Payne. “Wondering Why” has soundtracked more than 71,000 TikTok videos to date, along with a lyric video for the song that has garnered more than 2.5 million views on YouTube.

In the intervening time, “Wondering Why” has grown in forms and genres: on the charts dated January 20, the major hit remains high Advertising signHot Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts, it reaches a new No. 19 best on Adult Alternative Airplay and is at No. 22 on Hot Country Songs. Labels have reached out again, Payne says, although the band has no plans to move on from Thirty Tigers.

Additionally, despite plans to release a follow-up project by early summer, recent chart success has prompted second thoughts about 'dropping 'Wondering Why' and The moment of truth breathe a little,” Payne adds. When the new album arrives, it will be produced by Dave Cobb, thanks to Conway Entertainment Group's Brandon Mauldin setting things in motion with mutual connection Shooter Jennings. “Ever since we started, the goal from day one was to work with Dave Cobb,” says Coleman. “The fact that it actually happened is surreal.”

Meanwhile, the band will continue their Way Too Long tour in addition to more festival dates including Boston Calling and Hinterland. Coleman knows the hype for “Wondering Why” is growing, and so is the pressure to follow it while the iron is hot – but he's keeping his cool amid the band's moment.

“Everybody's been yelling at us to play it since the beginning of the show, it's kind of crazy, but it's cool. I am grateful for the recognition, but I always keep in mind that people [go] viral for a month or two, then the next one comes.”

A version of this story will appear in the January 27, 2024 issue Advertising sign.