Muscadine Bloodline Jam Session 

How A Call From Post Malone Changed History For South Alabama’s Muscadine Bloodline 

Looking back to the end of this past summer, the guys in Muscadine Bloodline are positive they made the right decision. But still, it wasn’t an easy one to make. 

They got a phone call on Labor Day that they knew was life-changing, but it came at a bad time. They were packed up and ready to hit the road for a fall tour promoting their new album, The Coastal Plain, when they got a last-minute offer they shouldn’t refuse. Megastar Post Malone wanted them as his opening act on his massive F-1 Trillion stadium tour. 

A bit farther down the road, Muscadine Bloodline’s Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton are still reeling from the sudden turn of events. They had to deal with the stress of having to postpone and reschedule their own shows (and potentially upsetting some of their fans) before they could relax and enjoy the luxurious ride they’d been given. Now that the whirlwind is behind them, they wonder what it means for their future, which was already looking to be quite bright. 

When Opportunity Knocks 

“Having the opportunity to play consistently to 25,000 people a night is just unreal,” says Muncaster, “and there are not too many acts that can say they have been able to play Nissan Stadium or Fenway Park or places like that.” 

Stanton, his musical partner for almost a decade, agrees: “We’d never had the opportunity to show this many people a night what we could do,” he says. “We were just thrilled to be out there.” 

One adjustment was tightening their performance in a way that showcased all of their strengths.  

“We were gonna assume that no one in the crowd knows our music, though we know now that a lot of them do, and to bring a lot of energy and make people remember us,” says Muncaster. “We put together a set list that had a lot of our new record on it, obviously, because we’re pushing that, and you can’t ignore some of the earlier songs. We just tried to keep everybody on their feet and try to keep everybody’s attention as long as possible and do the best we can.” 

Besides getting the crowd ready for the headliner, Stanton adds: “We wanted to bring every single dynamic that would make it more memorable.” 

Bluegrass to Gospel, Solo Artists to Storytelling Duo 

A duo that’s backed by a full band, Muscadine Bloodline is loved by many for its careful and thoughtful storytelling over a range of country music styles, sometimes with bluegrass and gospel elements. They’re often upbeat but never overly aggressive, and they can also simmer down with softer signature songs like “Porch Swing Angel,” which is what first got them widespread attention in 2016. 

Stanton was a grade behind Muncaster in high school in Mobile, AL, and they knew each other as budding musicians. Later, Stanton opened one of Muncaster’s solo shows at a hometown venue called the Soul Kitchen Music Hall. Muncaster went off to college across the state at Auburn University. Thinking he might be a good songwriting collaborator, he invited Stanton to come visit, and he did. 

“He drove up one weekend and crashed on my couch,” Muncaster recalls. “We tried our best to write a few songs and I had a gig that evening. I was like, ‘Man, why don’t you just sit in with me and let’s see what happens. We can do a song swap or whatever, play some covers, throw in some originals …. 

“There was just some magic in the room that night,” Muncaster continues. “We started realizing that we knew all the same songs and he could sing harmony with me and I could sing harmony to him. We thought, ‘Maybe we should try this again sometime,’ and we ended up touring in Alabama and Georgia and Mississippi as ‘Charlie and Gary’ for the next year or so.” 

Muscadine Bloodline Is Born 

When Stanton relocated to Nashville, Muncaster soon followed. The more formal name they adopted, Muscadine Bloodline, doesn’t have any specific meaning but is meant to convey their Southern roots. Their songs do that, too. Colorful characters and places populate their songs, and they both say that, as writers, they strive to live up to their region’s strong literary traditions.  

Stanton says he sees the new album as a book, with every song as a different chapter, and that most of the people and situations are true to their own lives. 

“We create these stories based on lived experiences, but sometimes it’s just fun to create a character that’s larger than life and kind of embellishing it,” says Stanton.  

They also embrace the challenge of writing unconventional love songs, which they’ve done repeatedly not only with the torch-bearing “Porch Swing Angel” but with “10-90” and “Daffodils” from their new release. The former shares a lesson that a strong relationship doesn’t always have to rely on a 50-50 effort. In the latter, the narrator sweetly assures his partner that she doesn’t have to pick each petal off of a flower to find out whether he loves her or not. 

Down The Line For Muscadine Bloodline 

Warming up the crowds for Post Malone wasn’t Muscadine Bloodline’s first brush with bigger stages, as they’ve also opened for the likes of the Turnpike Troubadours and Eric Church. One thing that Muncaster and Stanton find ironic about their situation is that they were perfectly satisfied with where they already were when they recently got what they call the chance of a lifetime. They were regularly playing from 90 minutes to two hours in respected, established venues with 1,500 to 2,500 seats packed with appreciative fans who came out just to see them. 

“We were completely content,” Muncaster says. “Gary and I joked about it all the time, saying, ‘Man, if this is as far as it gets, playing places like the historic Ryman Auditorium, then I’m pretty happy with that.’” 

For more information, check out muscadinebloodline.com.