A metal kid grows up on thrash and stadium riffs, then finds himself writing country songs on a beat-up acoustic. That’s where our conversation with Jared Graham begins—somewhere between distortion and dust, showmanship and bare-boned truth—and it doesn’t let up until the last chord rings. We trade stories about the albums that rewired our ears—early Metallica, the maligned but meaningful Saint Anger, and the Red Dirt records that sneak up on you with brutal honesty. Jared opens up about bom...