When I was young, I would spend time hanging out at my grandmother’s house. She was a bartender at various dive bars around the Gulf Coast and told me stories of meeting various country legends. She played records for me and always had the television tuned to TNN; I remember seeing people like Randy Travis, Barbara Mandrell and George Strait on the various shows that ran between “Dukes of Hazzard” reruns (a.k.a., the real reason I liked TNN).
When I first listened to Caleb Caudle’s new album, Carolina Ghost, the first thing that came to my mind’s eye was a panoramic view of my grandma’s living room, and I suddenly heard those old familiar sounds–her country records and TNN. This album is well-produced country fare with lyrics deeper and more heartfelt than a discussion of pick-up trucks, drinking beer, and being a complete idiot.
Whining pedal steel coupled with Caudle’s smooth country-crooner vocals brought back so many memories, and will undoubtedly create new ones. The sound is impeccable; each note rings clearly and somehow, in this time of listeners complaining that production takes away soul, the recording captures the mood, heart, and the very essence of these songs.
The lyrics are strong, something missing from so many of today’s “artists”; who couldn’t help but love the line from “Tuscaloosa”, “The stars fell on Alabama, mostly they fell on you…” Caudle set the bar high with 2013’s Paint Another Layer on My Heart, but he has outdone himself with Carolina Ghost.
Pre-order Carolina Ghost, which is set for release on March 4th: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/carolina-ghost/id1082586671
Leave a Reply