Root For the Home Team: Say Hey to Caleb Caudle

by Robert Dean

When you do what we do, there are folks you consider “the home team,” the musicians we’ve watched grow over the years. The artists we were begging readers to check out long before they broke out or hooked up with a super producer. Tyler Childers and Colter Wall made their way onto the national stage. We’re always rooting for Justin Wells, and we want Lindi Ortega to do well. Jason Isbell is slowly taking over everything, and some of us can remember when Sturgill was playing rooms to 100 people. There are so many great bands out there grinding, The Quiet Hollers, Two Cow Garage, Shovels and Rope; we tip our hats to all of them. 

We take pride in seeing these folks bloom, which in some cases, submitted a few scratch tracks or sent us a tweet to check out their music. These once obscure artists are getting a shot at real success. 

Another one of those folks we love and are unbelievably proud of is Caleb Caudle. On his newest record, Crushed Coins, Caleb Caudle is making noise that’s booming louder than his critically acclaimed Carolina Ghost. 

Crushed Coins feels different than Carolina Ghost in that the body of work is less reliant on the big and bright late 80’s/early 90’s country overtones, and instead feels personal and more “Americana” than strict, by the book country and western. 

Crushed Coins features straight-ahead songwriting and a strict reliance on mastery of craft instead of studio trickery or layers of instruments designed to muddle the message. There are some heartbreakers, some good time jams and some beer drinking tunes, which as about all you can ask for in a straight ahead country record.

 If Randy Travis or Garth Brooks is on your Spotify playlist, be sure to check out everything Caleb Caudle has released, he’s one of the best dudes putting in the work. He’s skillfully adept at harnessing that clean, powerful and hooky sound those guys pulled off back in the day. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, Caleb Caudle is an artist that appeals to older country fans, but can also bring in a lot of new people. He’s got an immediate likability, but also listenability that many artists, no matter how great just can’t foster.

As Pantera taught us on the home video: KEEP THE SCENE ALIVE, MAN.

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Grab Crushed Coins from Caleb's Bandcamp site or find it at all the other usual places.

Dad Was Under The Impression There'd Be Country Music

Dad Mark Benson, 47, of Taylortown, Louisiana took his daughter and two of her friends to a concert at the Bossier City Centurylink Center assuming there'd be country music. After all, the main guy was wearing a cowboy hat on the poster, and the two opening acts had the same last names as people from his church. And the local radio station had promoted "One Big Night of Country" for the last 2 months, but so far Mr. Benson had heard nary a note of country.

Clad in camo cargo shorts, a Flori-Bama t-shirt, and white & red New Balance shoes, Mark stood incredulous at the barrage of beats and other sounds which couldn't possibly have come from the guys holding instruments on stage. The performers pranced around the stage exhorting the audience to "keep it lit" and "put your drinks in the air" while mumble-singing mid-tempo pop songs that all seemed to run together. 

Besides a couple of drawled phrases and constant references to beer, there was nothing in the first hour and a half of the show that might have indicated what genre of music these singers claimed to be. He's pretty sure he's heard that song from the one guy about "leaving the bar with me" on the country station, or maybe the one from that other guy about "leaving the bar with her," but he wouldn't put money on either one.

Now, 4 songs into the headliner, Mark and other goatee-having fathers are glancing at each other with confused looks. The tall, handsome singer seems like a nice young fellow, but he's yet to twang a note. There's no steel guitar on the stage. There's no fiddle player. There's no banjo. There haven't been any cheating songs. 

"Get off my lawn" and "music was better back in my day" swirl through Mark's head, but he doesn't dare utter those phrases into existence. His daughter and friends seem to be having fun watching the show through their phone screens and he's into his 6th Fat Tire tallboy, so things could be worse. 

No wait, the headliner is rapping now.

New Video / Ashley Monroe / "Hands on You"

New Parody Album Covers: Musgraves, Murphy, Swindell, Monroe

Ladies and Gentlemen, The James Hunter Six

by Robert Dean

As a music nerd, few things are as satisfying as stumbling on a record at random and then being the first to put it on blast to all of your other music nerd friends. It’s like the smoke after a fantastic dinner for folks to dig in crates for vinyl or comb the hipster blogs looking for that perfect record to stream while they drive across the state next weekend.

The James Hunter Six’s newest record Whatever It Takes is precisely that record. For some reason, The James Hunter Six have alluded me. It pains me to know this incredible band was out there, spreading its brass-laced heart and soul without me, it makes me sad. Nonetheless, I’ve resolved myself to learning and loving their entire catalog, because friends and Romans, these cats are fucking amazing.

Whatever It Takes is an old-school shaken cocktail of blues, rockabilly, early R&B, Doo-Wop, and rock n' roll from the pre-Elvis era. The smooth tenor of the record is straight out of a classic Scorsese bar fight scene with red bar candles and abused Formica bar tops and the scent of smoke permeating everything, no matter how many years ago the smoking ban passed.

Whatever It Takes is a collection of songs meant for small rooms with close bodies, for people to sway and swing in comfortable shoes and sport jackets with no ties. The vibe is analog, and there’s no allusion to anything current, it’s a throwback and doesn’t miss a lick. Whatever It Takes was recorded on a classic-soul era eight-track tape and transferred over digitally. The vibe is sweaty and one that demands your attention cuz Jack, The James Hunter Six swing hard.

If you crave dulled mono-styled tones that feel straight from the classic Stax or Chess playbook, then The James Hunter Six have tapped into a vein that rivals and on some songs surpass Leon Bridges. Hunter's voice is a bombastic chameleon that can wail with the best of them, but then whisper and moan. He’s not trying to do anything outside of the norm of the genre, and that’s why Whatever It Takes works flawlessly.

“I Don’t Wanna Be Without You” is a stone cold opener that sets an immediate tone for the record, it’s breezy and a little sleazy, too. There’s plenty of overtures to sex, sin, and long nights, which for some of us is all we’re looking for when sifting through the endless choices presented every day.

Grab it off Amazon and show these dudes that have slogged it out over six records that we’re ready for their arrival. 

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Whatever it Takes is available on Bandcamp, Amazon, iTunes, etc.