The Cadillac Three Reflects With New Album, ‘The Years Go Fast’

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Country rockers The Cadillac Three will release their sixth studio album, The Years Go Fast, on Oct. 27. The project’s lead single “Young and Hungry” released today (Sept. 8) via Big Machine Records.

“‘Young and Hungry’ is actually a song that we’ve known since the beginning of the band,” drummer Neil Mason explains. “It was originally by The Jane Shermans, which was a band featuring the song’s producer, Angelo, and his wife, Eulene. We loved that song forever, and Jaren [Johnston] had the idea to take it and insert the story of him and his wife into it.”

“When you say, ‘the years go fast,’ it really makes sense,” adds Johnston. “We’ve been together for a long time, in some shape or fashion. We met when we were 14 or 15, in high school. I think the track kind of embodies the whole album. I’m so thankful that we came across that idea because it’s probably the most uplifting thing on the records.”

In 2020, the Nashville trio of Johnston, Mason and Kelby Ray released a pair of albums in Country Fuzz and Tabasco & Sweet Tea. What followed was a season of upheaval that left them reeling.

“We put out 31 songs in one year. It was like, ‘let’s give people a breather. Let’s give us a breather,'” says Johnston. “We were coming off COVID and then my dad passed away. It’s a whole different life now. Talk about having some shit to write about.”

The ACM-nominated group’s sixth studio album, The Years Go Fast, is the product of coming through those trials and emerging on the other side—battle-scarred, a little older, a little wiser and more willing to be vulnerable. It’s expansive in sound, reflective of the way The Cadillac Three continue to think with their brand of country-rock, but it still sounds like only the three of them can.

“This record does have a lot of growth, a lot of hurt and heartbreak,” says Mason. “We are a little more grown up now, but we’re still doing the same thing we were doing in the beginning.”

The Years Go Fast is a statement about big change, but it’s also about the ways friendship, love, and family are anchors when everything starts to fall apart.  The Years Go Fast is available now for pre-order, with the band continuing their “The Years Go Fast Tour” this fall.

Caela Griffin
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