THE REAL THING

At 23, Little Rock’s Christopher Denny has had a harder life than most. His childhood was unbelievably trying (he’s asked us not to print the details). A former addict, he spent time in jail. The one-time busker—who worked sidewalks in Dallas and Chicago—is unequivocally the real article, a guy who’s been broken, one who stands on shaky emotional ground wholly in awe of music, the inner peace it’s given him and its potential to better people’s lives. All that said, what will strike you the most is the sweet country warble in which he sings. Most immediately recalling Jimmie Dale Gilmore, it leaves Denny sounding plucked from another era, when Johnny Cash was still high on pills and America wasn’t one big strip mall. With any justice, his debut, Age Old Hunger (00:02:59 Records), will rock juxeboxes from the Lower East Side to Little Rock for generations to come. Says Denny: “Ya know, I had a pretty weird childhood, but music made me realize that I have some worth. It’s given me some hope in this world." www.christopherdenny.com

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