Photo from Entertainment Tonight

Meet Jaren Johnson, Neil Mason, and Kelby Ray of The Cadillac Three. With all three members reigning from Nashville, Tennessee, country music is in their blood. However, they have their own custom touch or accent to it. They have incorporated or more rock mix to their music that gives it a raspy feel. Their most successful song thus far, The South, is a prime example of what they’re all about.

The band members grew up knowing each other since middle school, making them closely connected to one another. The goal of the group is just do things their own way. “We’re trying to build something and do it our way, which is always harder. If you’re going to leave something that people are actually going to remember, you can’t take the easy way. So we took a look at our history, mixed it with the energy of The Cadillac Three and put it into a record that makes sense of where we’ve been and where we’re going” says lead guitarist Jaren Johnson.

A remarkable thing about the group is that it has been them, and only them, from the start. On all of their albums and songs they have never included a feature or an additional musician. Johnson has always handled the lead guitar and vocals, Ray on the lap steel for the bass and low end, and Mason on the drums. That is one of my favorite aspects of the group, their simplicity. They aren’t about all of the flash and glam. They just stick to their guns and play their music they way they know how.

                                                                                                            Photo from Whiskey Riff

Some songs by the group that I personally enjoy the most include Runnin’ Red Lights, Dang if We Didn’t, American Slang, and Party Like You. However, I’ve never listened to a song of theirs that I did not like.

Looking at just Runnin’ Red Lights on their Bury Me In My Boots album, the simplicity of the three really comes out. The song features strong power cords from Jaren Johnson on his Gibson SG with Ray meticulously picking his lap steel to accent. Mason doesn’t even appear on the drums in this one. The vocals have a raspy feel while still flowing smoothly over the course of the song. It all truly comes together so well.

Another interesting piece about The Cadillac Three is their ability to write. Not only have they written all of their own songs, but Jaren Johnson has written many hit songs such as Southern Girl by Tim McGraw, You Gonna Fly by Keith Urban, Girl Crush by Little Big Town, as well as American Country Love Song by Jake Owen. Johnson just simply has a love for music and enjoys sharing and working with others to produce something he will love. Often he will write a song he knows will be successful but chooses to give it away because it doesn’t quite fit into how the Cadillac Three sounds and he thinks someone else is a better fit for it. He truly is just about the music.

The Cadillac Three isn’t concerned with making money and retiring rich. They wish to make an impact in the music world that will be remembered long after they are no longer producing music for the world. I truly respect each member of the band for their simplicity and humbleness despite their growing success and recognition among other music greats in the business. I am excited to see how their future will be and get more opportunities to listen to their powerful and all-around good sound.

(Information obtained from thecadillacthree.com)