It is pretty safe to say that traveling with a music playlist can get you from Point A to Point Z a lot faster, Caylee Hammack is an artist who can get you there.
When it comes to music, I’m as diverse as I am about traveling. I want to see it all and listen to it all. There are places I don’t want to visit and music I don’t listen to. Like many, I have teetered back and forth from musical genres and lately, I have swayed back towards country music.
I thank a trip through rural South Carolina and a redhead up and comer, Caylee Hammack for that.
Let’s start with the unexpected rural trip through South Carolina. I-95 traffic can sometimes suck and if you are in SC, you know that as you near the Georgia border, it can be horrendous. My wife and I decided to detour off of 95 and we spun and wound our way around SC and into Georgia and I managed to lose reception on my iphone, which isn’t that unusual given my carrier.
I’m a music guy when I travel. As a former wannabe singer who spent a year in Nashville, I’ve always put music and driving hand in hand. I would drive from Toledo, Ohio to Nashville every other weekend and fell in love with a lot of different styles.
On this trip, I turned on the radio, the actual radio, and was blown away by this amazing soulful voice. They didn’t say her name but I figured out the song, “Small Town Hypocrite”. At the next gas stop, I quickly looked it up so I wouldn’t forget and added her albums to my Apple Music playlist.
The fiery redhead has a great albeit small catalog as she is relatively new, her first album debuted in 2020. She has a voice that is a mix of Reba McEntire and Patsy Cline with a lot of emotional levels in her songs. Hammack’s music tells stories and that, to me, is the heart of what country music should be. There are those singers who “sing” their songs but Caylee invites you into her soul and through her own emotions takes you into the songs.
Something so simple as a song about “Looking for a Lighter” can make you smile and revel in your own adventures and memories of sifting through a junk drawer. Her collaboration with Reba McEntire on “Redhead” is a fun upbeat jam and since I have a nephew that is a redhead I can relate to the story.
Finding new music is always fun and can be so inviting and traveling gives us an opportunity to find more. Music subscription services are great for that. As I ready for my next trip, I have ditched my ‘playlist’ and instead am driving with a “Hey Siri, play Caylee Hammack radio”. From here, I will get a variety of similar artists and already I have added more than a few songs to my library as a result.
The next time you hit the road, set your music service to play similar artists to the ones you enjoy listening to and maybe, you may find a gem like Hammack as well. For all her current touring dates, visit her website here.