CALEB CAUDLE

Caleb Caudle brings it all back home with Tobacco Town, his first solo album since 2007’s Red Bank Road. When the fiddle hits on the dynamic album-opener, “Blue or Gray,” the pace is set for a delightful backroad musical departure from Caudle’s work with the Bayonets. Released on Chapel Hill-based Robust Records, Tobacco Town—a nod to his hometown Winston-Salem, NC—sounds like Caudle is right at home. The album shows Caudle digging deeper to the roots of the Southern American music that has shaped him. Recorded in late-night sessions after work and in between tour dates, Tobacco Town features the impressive production of multi-instrumentalist Sam Kossler and the drumming of Chris Ankelein (Bayonets). Harmonies and fiddle are provided by both Caitlin Cary (Small Ponds/Whiskeytown) and singer-songwriter Haley Dreis. Caudle shows a gift for identifying the best arrangements of players to get the point of his songs across, never compromising his voice which has been called "singularly Americana." The title track is a live, one-take recording of just Caleb's voice and guitar. The full-band tracks shine no matter which genre they are highlighting from the bluegrass-tinged "Midnight Beauty" to the bouncy, 50s vibe of "Miss Me When You're Gone."