Today, we continue our Rootsy Summer Sessions series with three fresh videos and songs supplied by longtime friend of BGS, singer-songwriter Caleb Caudle. For his first selection, Caudle and his small-but-mighty trio perform a properly bluegrass rendition of “Great High Mountain,” a modern gospel-folk-bluegrass classic written by Keith Whitley and also commonly known by the title “You Don’t Have to Move That Mountain.” With bluesy Dobro and a slight growl to Caudle’s voice, they perform the number in front of the beautiful and apt background of Falkenberg Church.
Captured in Falkenberg, Sweden by the crack videography team, I Know We Should, our Rootsy Summer Sessions highlight the wide variety of roots musicians and Americana artists that performed as part of Rootsy Summer Fest ’23. Even all the way across the Atlantic, on the North Sea, by the banks of the beautiful Ätran river, world class American roots music can be found, brought to Scandinavia and northern Europe by the folks at Rootsy Music – and the community that surrounds them.
For their second song, Caudle and trio perform “Whirligigs,” a track from his 2022 album, Forsythia, which he recorded at the infamous Cash Cabin just outside of Nashville. On “Whirligigs,” the trio trades in their gospel trappings, but the result is every bit as reverent.
Forsythia is a collection of stories, songs as vignettes, and the details and affection evident in the lyrics of “Whirligigs” translates even while so greatly removed from the peoples and cultures the song speaks about. A track recorded on hallowed ground performed on hallowed ground, with the appealing architecture of the cathedral as background, demonstrates just a bit of the magic captured during our Rootsy Summer Sessions.
To conclude their mini-set, Caudle and trio offer “Crazy Wayne,” another track from Forsythia that offers an additional, fresh angle on Caudle’s penchant for microscopic stories told in broad and inviting styles. On the studio recording, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush lend their talents to the song; in Falkenberg, bassist Karl Zerfas and resonator guitarist Carter Giegerich do the music justice and then some. It’s another gritty, bluesy number infused with heartbreak and essential advice that’s just perfect to round out the session.
Stay tuned for more Rootsy Summer Sessions coming soon right here, on BGS.
Video Credit: Brad Wagner, I Know We Should
Audio Credit: Juan Soria, I Know We Should
