Little Rebellion Music

One of the great country music stories of the last few years, has been watching The Cadillac Three go from being the newcomers at CMA Fest just three years ago, to now touring internationally.

All Access caught up with the guys and ask them about their start, their sound, and the new songs.

1) Hey Guys, thanks for taking the time to chat with All Access Nashville! You all three are from this area, how did you all meet and come together as a band?
Kelby: We all met in high school. We were about 14-15 years old. We realized that we all played music and started jamming together with different bands and different groups of friends. Over time, it grew into what ended up being The Cadillac Three.

2) Growing up around here, you were around the Grand Ole Opry quite a bit-and Jaren, we know your dad use to play drums in the house band. When you all made your Opry debut, how did it feel to be up there? Can you describe that moment to us?
Jaren: It was weird because my dad actually still plays there every Friday and Saturday night, and sometimes on Tuesday. We played on a Tuesday and it was kind of crazy because we went over to Nashville Palace beforehand and had some drinks; and dad used to play there too, so as a kid I would go with him. Starting the night out like that was really bizarre, like ‘wow, we’re about to play the opry!’ So, we get over there and dad wasn’t playing there that night, but he was there. We were walking around with {Grand Ole Opry GM} Pete Fisher and I was like ‘Well, I guess dad’s got the night off tonight, but I’m gonna take it!’ It was pretty cool to get to step in that circle because of all the history. I was really nervous. It’s one of those times in a musician’s life where you’ll never forget that moment. I tried to take that in the whole time.

3) You have a very unique and different sound. What influenced that sound? Or did it form more organically?
Neil: I mean we all grew up listening to a lot of the same stuff: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, old Hank Jr., 90’s Country-Garth and stuff like that. We were all born and raised in Nashville and went to the same high school, so we were listening to a lot of the same stuff at the same time. We get in a room and it’s like if you throw all that stuff in a pot with whatever our unique thing is. We don’t really know how to play any other way than the way that we do, so I guess on some level it’s just the way that we sound.

4) Your debut single, “The South,” featured a ton of big named artists including Mike Eli, Florida Georgia Line, and Dierks Bentley. How did that song come together, where as a debut act, you were able to get all those artists to sing on it?
Kelby: Dierks is the first guy who ever took us out on a Country tour, so we’ve always been close to him. And, actually, Eli Young Band was out on that tour too. It was the three of our bands. We also had done some shows early on with Florida Georgia Line, when we were playing clubs for only like 50 people (laughs). They all just happened to be in town and it just so happened that Mike Eli was next door to us in Blackbird Studios working on something. I think Jaren texted Dierks and one of the FGL guys the night before, and asked them if they would sing on the song. We just made it a party. There might have been even more people on it if there were more people in town that day!

5) Speaking of singles, your new single “White Lightening” is preparing to hit Country radio next month. Can you tell us about that and the background behind the song?
Jaren: It goes to radio June 1st, and we’re actually out on radio tour right now promoting it. It’s been a lot of fun because we’ve had two singles and made a lot of friends in Country radio. It’s neat to come in with a song that’s a different side of us. I sat and wrote it by myself about my wife. It’s basically my take on love at first sight. When I write, I try to write in a way where you come out and say things, but you don’t say it, you know? This song is special to me. It’s about things that I was kind of obsessed with when I was a kid like the Dukes of Hazzard show, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Dale Earnhardt-so I put a lot of those images in the song. Like, ‘She stole my heart faster than #3 breaking ever record/ Faster than the Duke boys jumpin’ that hillside.’ It’s basically the way I fell in love with my wife.

6) You all cut “Days Of Gold” and put it on your album, and as we know, Jake Owen ended up cutting it as well and making it a single. What was it like hearing Jake’s version of one of your songs on the radio vs hearing one of your own singles on the radio?
Neil: I thought it sounded great! We were really excited. That was one of the first songs that we had cut by an outside artist. It was super cool of Jake to want to do it. He called us and was like ‘Do you like it? Are you good with it?’ and we were like ‘Man, it’s great!’ I felt like he made it his own, but kept our influences too. It was a cool thing. It’s always an honor for somebody to cut our songs. We were excited and surprised. As far as hearing ourselves on the radio, we got a text from our label head Scott Borchetta saying ‘Hey, The South is going to be on The Big 98 right at noon today,’ or something like that. We didn’t even know that was a possibility. I was at my house at a writing appointment and I told the guy I was with ‘Hey man, we’re gonna have to take a break here in about 15 minutes so I can go out to my car’ (laughs). It was really cool. I just sat in my car and turned it up as loud as it could go. It’s an exciting thing. Every time kind of feels like the first time when you hear your song on the radio.

7) We know you have a lot of big songwriting credits to your name. When going into a writing session, do you separate appointments where you’re writing solely for the band vs. writing solely for other artists? How do you decide what songs you’re going to keep vs the ones you’re going to give away?
Jaren: I write a lot for our band by myself. Or I’ll start something by myself and bring Neil in. Or if I’m writing with someone that day that I feel really gets what we do, then I’ll ask them to join in. With our band, I just kind of know what songs are for us because there are only certain things I want to sing about. I don’t really like exposing certain sides of us. It’s the reason I didn’t keep ‘Raise’em Up’ for our band, because at the time, I didn’t think our band, and myself in particular, were ready to sing those lyrics. I think every band wants to grow, so looking back on it, I kinda wish I would have kept it because I think that would have been a great follow-up to ‘lightning.’ I’m writing everyday so hopefully we can just keep those coming! (laughs)

8) Your stage show has a lot of energy and instrumentation for only being the three of you. How did you all come up with the concept for your live show?
Kelby: Jaren plays electric guitar, Neil plays drums, and I’m playing latch steel guitar, but I run it through an amp and a guitar amp. I also kind of have an octave pedal going through the bass amp, so it sounds like a bass. We need that bass sound because we don’t really have a bass player, so I’m doing something a little unorthodox and unique with it. It sounds like there’s four or five of us up there, so that’s where the big sound comes from. We like to play loud, and we’re all really musical, so that’s how we decided to put the show together!

9) There are some Rock artists who are crossing over to Country, and there are Country artists who have definite Rock influences in their sound. Do you think the format is becoming more open to that type of edgier sound?
Jaren: I don’t know if the format is becoming more open to it, but I do think it’s pretty obvious to what’s happening around town. For example, last week I was writing with Steven Tyler for his Country record. It’s neat to see the way the genre is changing, but also, I feel there’s always going to be songs about tailgates, pretty girls, and cold beer. That’s just the nature of Country music; and honestly, it needs that. But, it also needs the Eric Churches, The Cadillac Threes, and the Steven Tylers making a cool record. That’s what’s great about Country music; it’s all about the story. It’s more open, I think, than a lot of genres and that’s exciting to me.

10) You guys have played shows with acts like ZZ Top, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, and Jake Owen. What have you learned from touring with such a diverse set of acts?
Neil: I think more than anything we’ve learned how to be respectful of the other bands that are out there. Those guys have all been so gracious and cool to us in their own different ways. They’ve all taken really great care of us. So now that we’re starting to headline more shows and have people opening for us, it’s something that we try and pay a lot of attention to. We want to make sure that the other band is taken care of. Back in the beginning with Dierks and with ZZ Top, we’d be in our white van and it’d just be the three of us-no crew or anything. If they’d give us a pack of beer or turkey sandwiches for lunch, all that stuff goes so far. And ZZ Top, they’re a three piece band like we are, so seeing their dynamic on stage and the way that they have such a big sound with just three guys, that was invaluable to us.

Bonus Questions
1) Nashville has grown a lot in the past few years. What are some of your favorite new spots around town?
Jaren: I love going down to Yellow Porch in Berry Hill, it’s one of my favorite restaurants in town. A lot of my favorite ones are the ones that have been there for years-Tin Angel, the old school Las Palmas. But, there’s a lot of stuff downtown now like the new Omni hotel which has a really kick ass bar. We’re gone so much, I feel like every time we come home there’s something new to check out.

2) Now to the depressing part, what Nashville hang outs that you use to love aren’t around anymore?
Most of mine are still around, but I miss Lucy’s record shop, which was over on Church Street. They turned that into something else, but that was a cool place to go hear rock bands when I was a kid. Now where Dan McGuiness and all that is, it used to be Hank’s house, so I miss the historic things like that-which used to be a part of Nashville. The old Shoney’s Inn is now a huge condo place. It’s just wild. I don’t mind them changing a lot of Nashville, but I do mind them changing the Music Row aspect. To me, that’s so historic and something that needs to stay. It’s tough to watch that stuff go down.

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Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.

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