The Bayonets are moving forward on their new album

Thursday, April 15, 2010
By Carole Perkins
Special to Go Triad

"Snake River Canyon" is the album Caleb Caudle and the Bayonets needed to make.

After critical acclaim for their first release, "Red Bank Road," Caudle and brother Kyle hit a detour with their second album, "Stay On."

"Snake River Canyon" rivets the band back on track with a combustive package of urgent songs stoked with themes of moving forward and leaving the past behind.

Sitting outside a Winston-Salem restaurant on a Saturday afternoon, lead singer and guitarist Caleb Caudle sips on a margarita as he reflects on the band's journey.

"We really liked our first album, but we were frustrated with the second one and just wanted to have fun," he said. " 'Snake River Canyon' is the album that kept our band together."

The first track, "So Gone," best reflects the mood of the album and marks the moment when Caudle stopped thinking about writing songs and just did it.

"Repossess my heart baby and reassess my time/I'd change a few things about myself if I could throw it in rewind/But now I'm moving forward, forward with the wind/Each breath that fills my lungs reminds me how to start again," he sings.

"I started jamming on a blues riff down in the basement, and it gave Caleb a format to play," says Kyle Caudle, bassist and backup vocalist.

"It opened things up so I could write constantly instead of just verse/chorus, verse/chorus," Caleb Caudle says.

Interspersed between 10 hard-driven songs punctuated by Chad Newsom's pummeling drum beat and Philip Pledger's fire-powered guitar licks nestle two heart-wrenching gems. "Skeleton Tree" and "Weightless" are written as if Neil Young and the late Gram Parsons whispered in Caleb Caudle's ear.

"And I'll fly away from the skeleton tree/With my glory and the wind beneath my wings/Cause I'd rather fly away with the falcons/Than fall with the thousands of leaves," Caleb Caudle sings.

"We wanted this album to reflect all our musical influences and break away from the alt-country tag. It's more like Cosmic American Music," he said, rolling up the sleeve on his plaid shirt to reveal a tattoo with the title of Parsons' signature song, "Hickory Wind," on his right bicep.

Recorded at Echo Mountain Recording Studio in Asheville and co-produced by Jon Ashley, "Snake River Canyon" showcases Caleb Caudle's vocal range stretching to Roy Orbison falsetto heights and dipping to Frank Sinatra's deep-chested purr.

"This album was by far a band effort," Caleb Caudle says. "We each brought something different to the table. As a bass player, Kyle is more into rhythm, and I'm more into melody. We all had the same vision and everyone's opinion mattered. We have enough musicianship now so when everyone is listening to each other we can be innovative without stepping on each other's toes."

With a tour planned from Athens, Ga., to Boston by manager Andy Tennille, Caleb Caudle and the band are ready to roll.

"Usually by the time an album comes out, I'm tired of singing the songs," Caudle says.

"On 'Snake River Canyon,' the songs still sound fresh to me, and I'm excited about people hearing them.

"This is an album that makes people get up and move. It's the album we needed to make."



Contact Carole Perkins at CPGuilford@aol.com