Granville Automatic, For the People

Nashville-based duo Granville Automatic consists of former Georgia residents Vanessa Olivarez and Elizabeth Elkins. When they aren’t paying their bills as songwriters for Billy Currington, Angaleena Presley, Wanda Jackson and others, they’re furthering their shared creative vision as performers.

Their latest statement, Radio Hymns, tells the sordid story of Nashville across 13 new songs. The title track recounts how the Grand Ole Opry narrowly escaped the wrecking ball back in 1974. Less likely actors in Granville Automatic’s story include Jimi Hendrix – he resided in Nashville in the early ’60s – and the city’s first white settler, Timothy Demonbreun. Beneath each history lesson there’s a truthful ode to a city that dashes dreams and grants wishes, seemingly on a whim.

Special guests on Olivarez and Elkins’ self-produced album include Americana fashion plate Jim Lauderdale, Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Matraca Berg.

Radio Hymns arrives Nov. 2. In the meantime, fans can hear these songs and others live when the duo plays Matilda’s in Alpharetta on Oct. 13.