The Wooks—CJ Cain on guitar and vocals, Harry Clark on mandolin and vocals, George Guthrie on banjo and vocals, and Allen Cooke on Dobro—release “Flyin’ High” on Friday 25th February 2022. In an exclusive for Behind The Song we have CJ Cain from The Wooks sing the track “Flying High” solo. The first time that he has performed this track without the rest of the band.
CJ Cain also goes into depth as to the story about the song and and explains the importance of the lyrics and the real life characters who inspired the song and how their lives were weaved into becoming a musical gem. We also talk about the music video for “Flyin High” and how the video has brought the characters to life and thus the song into the field of animation.
The Wooks
Click below to watch the full Behind The Song video from The Wooks on You Tube or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Nick Shoulders is the whistling, yodelling, guitar picking, mouth organ playing and bird calling superstar of the Ozark mountains. It was a privilege and a joy to spend time with my hero and get to talk about all the joys and happiness that is music as broad to not only me but to legions of fans across the world. Nick takes the sounds of yesteryear and melds them with the heavier rhythm of todays music.
‘Snakes and Waterfalls’ by Nick Shoulders
A saving grace for Nick in these Covid times has been connecting through the screen and connecting through the ones and zeros of the digital world. Playing country music has allowed Nick to connect with history in a real tangible way and a tradition of music which is larger than any musician and play ‘Grandpa Music’ and take what’s compelling about the music and make it his own. The lines between what is Folk Music and Country Music get blurred and the artifical barriers created by marketing teams of the music industry quickly dissolve into nothingness when you hear such songs as ‘Snakes and Waterfalls‘, ‘Black Star‘, ‘Rather Low‘, ‘Bound and Determined‘, and ‘Turn On The Dark‘.
‘Rather Low’ by Nick Shoulders for Western AF
Learning to warble from one set of grandparents, having a fiddle passed down to him from his other grandfather and having the wide open spaces to practice his vocal skills and fiddle playing has turned the young Nick Shoulders into a virtuoso instrumentalist. Moving to New Orleans Nick cut his album ‘Lonely Like Me with Mashed Potato Records and got his buddies to play the instrumental parts and the result is magnificent. One of the outstanding tracks on that album is a old Elvis Presley song ‘Black Star‘ a song that was a favourite of David Bowie and soon was a favourite of Nick’s as well.
‘Black Star’ by Nick Shoulders
In New Orleans Nick was a drummer for hire and played with Sabine McCalla and his metamorphosis to singer songwriter was complete with his album ‘Okay, Crowdad.’ The artwork for all the albums is doe by Nick himself as he is a painter and illustrator and these talents are further showcased in his new album ‘Home On The Rage‘. The blonde Mardi Gras haircut has now become synonymous with Nick’s musical persona as has his collaboration with fellow Ozarkian and family member in a distant way Willi Carlisle. Gems on VHS, Western AF and others have catapulted Nick into the public consciousness with their ‘Vidjas’ (Videos) that capture the essence of this musical genius.
‘Bound and Determined’ by Nick Shoulders for Gems On VHS
For our audio pleasure Nick Sings acoustically his warm up song ‘Irene Goodnight‘. Take a moment and just listen to a little slice of heaven.For the future Nick will be travelling and paying shows across the states and even across the Atlantic to England in the autumn.
Nick Shoulders from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Nick Shoulders. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Dalton Mills, first amongst equals when it comes to singer songwriters.
Dalton Mills soul sparkles so brightly you’ll need sunglasses to go with a Hazmat suit. An exceptional lyricist he’s captured the lives, loss and heartaches of the disposed. Like a later day Chekov or Tolstoy he sings about the lonely souls in society, those who have fallen through the safety net and then kept falling with no end insight. His self titled album ‘Dalton Mills’ explores the stories of those who don’t register on the mainstream, who aren’t able to voice their pain and longing in a world where increasingly they are becoming ghosts.
‘Tornadoes’ by Dalton Mills
In this podcast we get to listen to two acoustic songs from Dalton they are ‘Tornadoes’ and ‘Mountain Call’ from his majestic album. A labour of love for over a year and a half from taking the songs in lyric form and then with the help of friends, recorded in the back of a record store. The album was recorded just at the cusp of the pandemic, any later and we wouldn’t have such songs out in the world.
Dalton Mills is a bringer of light to those dark areas of the world we all need to see.
Coming from rural Kentucky from the small town of Middlesboro, (a city that’s built in a crater!). Dalton has seen his fair share of those who’ve been affected by drugs, mental health issues and those who’ve been abandoned by their families. Not one for happy songs, Dalton expresses more affinity for songs touched by darkness and damaged people, damaged people are often the most dangerous. They know how to make hell feel like home. Dalton follows in the footsteps of his musical heroes Townes Van Zant, Guy Clark, John Prine in writing and performing songs that matter and connects with an audience who want more than just manufactured pop songs.
Dalton Mills performing live.
‘Last Goodbye’ from Dalton Mills. One of the bleakest songs ever put to music. Magnificent!
Picking up a guitar as a high school student has led Dalton down this path of musical greatness. For the last 5 years Dalton’s been writing songs of a phenomenal calibre. One of the bleakest songs ever put to music is ‘Last Goodbye’ a tale of a bedridden soul, who has lost all hope and waiting to see if he will perish at the hands of his carer. It’s a song that will stay with you hours after you’ve heard it. Go listen to this sensational artist who brings words and stories from the darkest corners of humanity to life.
Dalton Mills from the podcast. Photo: CloudwatcherUno
Click down below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Dalton Mills. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
CloudwatcherUno PLAY.LISTEN.ENJOY. 