Charley Crockett on his latest album, '$10 Cowboy'

Enlarge this image

Charley Crockett Ryan Vestil/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Ryan Vestil/Courtesy of the artist

Charley Crockett

Ryan Vestil/Courtesy of the artist

Charley Crockett doesn't do things halfway. Ever.

The story has often been told. He started out busking in cities like New Orleans and New York City. Then he ended up on the wrong side of a busted record label contract, self-funded his own independent releases and made a name for himself putting out over a dozen albums in less than a decade.

Crockett's latest, $10 Cowboy, is an album written from the road, where he sketched out characters, fictional and otherwise.

In this session, Crockett offers a glimpse into what someone goes through on their path to being a successful touring artist. He's not afraid to reflect on the industry he's had to navigate, often through his own devices. Crockett also looks back on his inspirations like Aretha Franklin and Willie Nelson.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.