OXFORD: The Bullingdon

Friday 6th May, 2016

7:00pm

Event information

Cale Tyson is a singer and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. Born in a small town in Texas, he was raised in Fort Worth, the home of Townes Van Zandt and the place where he first heard the classic country sounds that have inspired and enriched his gentle, melancholy, and undeniably whiskey-soaked sound.

With a nostalgic heart and an ear for melodies from long ago, Tyson’s 'Introducing Cale Tyson' released in the UK to huge critical acclaim, essentially draws together the songwriters first two EP's 'High On Lonesome' and 'Cheater's Wine'. ‘High On Lonesome’ is a beautiful collection of songs that continue the legacy of some of the legendary songwriters whose music he first heard as a child - Gram Parsons, Guy Clark and Willie Nelson, to name but a few. Recorded in Nashville, ‘High On Lonesome’ features some of the town’s finest players including guitarist Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart), keyboard player Tyson Rogers (Don Williams), John McTigue on drums and Mike Rinne (Caitlin Rose and Andrew Combs) on bass. ‘Cheater’s Wine’, a heartbreak record that sits great with a bottle of whiskey and an evening spent pining on the front porch, once again underlines why many think Tyson is the next Nashville 'star' to break through.

“We tracked Cheater’s Wine pretty soon after I released my last EP,” says Tyson. “I was fortunate enough to have Robert Ellis come in the studio to track lead guitar and harmonies on many of the songs. He and my pedal steel player, Brett Resnick, came up with some really great harmony guitar lines that really brightened up the songs. Most of the songs on the record are cheatin’ songs. Those are usually my favorite kind of classic country songs, and they were definitely what I was listening to at the time I wrote the songs for ‘Cheater’s Wine’”

The end result is that Cale Tyson is a great ambassador for the country songwriters that have come before him and also mounts a persuasive plea to those who might think that country music’s best days have been and gone. As long as Cale Tyson has a say in it, the best days might yet be still to come.