Before recording his third record, Winston-Salem native Caleb Caudle moved home from New Orleans, kicked the bottle and hunkered down to study early Randy Travis and 1980s-era Merle Haggard. All three influences colour Carolina Ghost, Caudle's exceptional (and sure to be his breakthrough) new album. Already a blinking light on the radar screens of most fans of non-mainstream country music, Caudle is poised to find new and wider audiences with this tightly constructed collection of laid-back songs.
As comfortable as an old hoodie, Caudle's record (like Sam Outlaw's, with whom Caudle shares more than a passing similarity) may be dismissed by some as backward-looking, but Caudle reminds us, in those familiar musical tropes — the Everly Brothers harmonies, the mournful pedal steel licks, the steady tap of the cross stick — there are still tales to tell. From the nod to "Grievous Angel" that opens the record (and the terrific sing-along of lead track "Gotta Be") to the dreamy banjo-driven album closer "The Reddest Rose," each song here speaks with a voice you'll recognize, one that's even saying things you've heard before, but one that's nevertheless as welcome as an old friend.
(Universal)As comfortable as an old hoodie, Caudle's record (like Sam Outlaw's, with whom Caudle shares more than a passing similarity) may be dismissed by some as backward-looking, but Caudle reminds us, in those familiar musical tropes — the Everly Brothers harmonies, the mournful pedal steel licks, the steady tap of the cross stick — there are still tales to tell. From the nod to "Grievous Angel" that opens the record (and the terrific sing-along of lead track "Gotta Be") to the dreamy banjo-driven album closer "The Reddest Rose," each song here speaks with a voice you'll recognize, one that's even saying things you've heard before, but one that's nevertheless as welcome as an old friend.
