The Red Clay Strays aren’t afraid to praise God with their music, but they also recognize that not everyone in their fanbase is religious.
The band from Mobile, Alabama consisting of Drew Nix (electric guitar, vocals, harmonica), Zach Rishel (electric guitar), Andrew Bishop (bass), John Hall (drums), Sevans Henderson (keys), and frontman Brandon Coleman have quite the impressive catalogue already. Their most recent addition is Grateful, which was released earlier this year and… yes, explored their collectiveness gratefulness.
It also featured some faith-based songs (“Demons In Your Choir” and “Revival”), which the band has embraced and become known for through their first three albums.
They describe themselves as not as a Christian band, but a band full of Christians. Their faith and outspokenness about the Lord is often intertwined with their music, and has really shined through in every project of theirs thus far (especially in 2024’s Made By These Moments). And if you’ve seen them live, you know their show isn’t lacking in the worship department.
During a recent stop in Macon, Georgia, Coleman made sure to address the crowd – as he often does – to let everyone know that he and the band are aware not everyone out in the crowd is a believer. The frontman thanked everyone for being there, and noted they weren’t preachers… they are performers:
“I don’t really feel the need to explain this here, because we’re in the south. The good ol’ dirty south. But I do tell people at our shows sometimes, I just feel the need to let them know we’re not naive little country bumpkins. We’re fully aware that not everyone believes in God…
We’re not setting out to be anyone’s spiritual leaders and we don’t want to be a Christian band or a rock band or a country band. We just want to make music and make art. And if you listen to it, that’s all that matters to us. If you don’t believe in God, I’d like to thank you for supporting us and listening to our music.
We are not trying to preach to anybody. We are not preachers, we are far from perfect… we just make music and God’s a big part of our life. He’s in our music.”
It’s really cool to see Coleman address the crowd with honesty and appreciation like that.
Later in the message to the audience, Coleman touched on how he and the rest of the Red Clay Strays kept the faith during the trials and tribulations the band went through during 2020 (and even prior to that).
That’s when the pandemic took the wind out of their sails, and many of the band members drove for Uber just to keep their dream alive.
Despite all of the challenges, they kept the faith – in one another, in their vision, and in God – and knew that the Good Lord would take care of them. That’s why they have a number of songs that you could very well hear in church… like the one that message above was setting up:
“God Does” by the Red Clay Strays
If you want to see the Red Clay Strays live, I’ve got some good news and some great news. The good news is that they are currently out on their 2026 Grateful Tour. The great news is that they’ve also extended their tour into 2027.
Here are the 2026 dates:
Grateful Tour Dates
October 14 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center with The Revivalist & Haley Reinhart
October 15 – Savannah, GA – Enmarket Arena with The Revivalist & Haley Reinhart
October 17 – Charleston, SC – Credit One Stadium with The Revivalist & Haley Reinhart
October 18 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena with The Revivalist & Haley Reinhart
October 22 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena with Brent Cobb & Sierra Ferrell
October 23 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena with Brent Cobb & Sierra Ferrell
October 28 – Knoxville, TN – Food City Center with Wyatt Flores & Brent Cobb
October 31 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena at the BJCC with Shane Smith & the Saints & Brent Cobb
November 5 – Baton Rouge, LA – Raising Cane’s River Center with Muscadine Bloodline & Brent Cobb
November 6 – Bossier City, LA – Brookshire Grocery Arena with Muscadine Bloodline & Brent Cobb
November 8 – Jonesboro, AR – First National Bank Arena with Muscadine Bloodline & Brent Cobb
November 13 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena with Travis Tritt & Brent Cobb