I love me some TC3 aka The Cadillac Three and have been fans of theirs since they were American Bang and then The Cadillac Black. I can say whatever Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray, and Neil Mason will call themselves past, present, or future, I will be a fan.
It’s been a hot minute since the Tennessee gents have put out new music. Their last albums were 2020’s Country Fuzz and Tobasco and Sweet Tea and their last single was 2021’s “Get After It”.
So I was pumped when they teased new music and let me tell you, the Southern rockers did not let this fan down.
Their latest single, “Hillbilly” features Elvie Shane and Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) and trudges through the heavy subject of substance abuse.
Not the usual lyrical muse for TC3 and a far cry from their party anthem songs like “Devil’s Lettuce”, “Bar Round Here”, “Party Like You”, “Ship Faced”, or “Get Your Buzz On”.
Jaren says this of the song,
On the surface, ‘Hillbilly’ is a party anthem, but it hits differently than many of our songs because we’re encouraging some introspection with this one. We’ve been known to have a good time most of the time, so it’s certainly not us trying to tell anyone how to live their life, but it’s a song about knowing where the line is and when you’ve gone too far. Sometimes you can live on the edge a little too long and you need to come back down from the high.
Singer songwriter, Elvie Shane shares vocals on the song and says this,
I’ve been a fan of The Cadillac Three since before that was their name. So, when I got the invitation to join them on the road for a weekend of writing, the answer was easy. ‘Hillbilly’ was born the second day on the road. To me, it’s a touch of TC3 roots and a lot of where I come from. It’s a cautionary tale about how easily you can fall into the trap of substance abuse coming from small rural towns like the one I live in now. I believe it has the right amount of grit and rock n roll to reach the intended audience.”
Joining TC3 and Elvie is Old Crow Medicine Show’s highly skilled Ketch Secor, who lays down a haunting fiddle alongside Kelby’s slide guitar. Neil drives the overall heaviness of the song with thunderous and soul crushing drums. It’s perhaps some of my favourite drumming from Neil.
The vibe of “Hillbilly” is swampy with dirty grooves and stomps that hit at the soul. It is one of the heaviest songs, musically and lyrically, by The Cadillac Three and I’m in love with it.
Watch the lyric video for “Hillbilly” below
