Most vagabond-troubadour alt-country types would kill for a backstory like John Murry's. Born in Tupelo, Miss., just like Elvis, he's a distant relative -- second-cousin, according to most accounts -- of literary hero William Faulkner. What's more, he's traveled the world, and amid stints in Oakland, San Francisco (where he overdosed) and England, he's amassed an enviable catalog of crazy-yet-true stories about drugs, love, religion, music, solitude and Mississippi mud.

On record, Murry doesn't always sound like the happiest of campers, but he's got reason to be pleased about his debut, 'The Graceless Age.' Four years in the making, the album earned raves in the U.K., where it was released last year, and on April 2, it finally gets its stateside release. Today's free MP3, the 'Graceless' gem 'The Ballad of the Pajama Kid,' is indicative of Murry's world-weary blend of country, rock, soul, hard-luck poetry and straight-up Southern grit.

"The initial idea and song came together quickly, in the studio, where I slept many nights during the early phase of the record’s creation," Murry says. "I wore these baby blue and white striped pajamas; the kind my grandfather used to wear -- pants and a button-up shirt. We worked on this song for three days straight. I didn’t bathe or change clothes. Musicians -- all friends of mine -- came in and out and I know I must have looked utterly insane."

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