Chatham County Line Set July Album Release

04/20/2010
. Chatham County Line will release their next studio album 'Wildwood' on July 13, 2010 via Yep Roc Records. North Carolina's Chatham County Line has always had chops. They've always been dedicated. They've always been loved and respected. But they haven't always had an identity.

Too progressive for bluegrass traditionalists, too rowdy for Americana sticklers and yet too traditional � they are all acoustic, singing and playing around one microphone � for alt-country's brash guitars, the band has leapt from fencepost to fencepost along the line between musical genres. With their last critically acclaimed studio effort, the immaculate Chris Stamey-produced IV, CCL began to shed its self-consciousness.

If IV was the butterfly emerging from its cocoon, then Wildwood is its first true flight. For the first time Dave Wilson (guitar, lead vocals) Chandler Hold (banjo), John Teer (mandolin, fiddle) and Greg Readling (bass) felt free to create totally unencumbered by classifications. "We don't care anymore what type of music people consider us. I just focus on writing the best lyrics and melodies I can," says Wilson. Picking up the notion, Holt continues, "I think it is as simple as people know a Chatham County Line song when they hear it. It has something to do with a strong melody and an honest vocal approach."

That said, will you hear CCL totally abandon their signature bluegrass workouts or pick up Les Pauls? Hardly, but what you will hear on Wildwood , and for the first time on any CCL album, are drums. So tastefully applied by Zeke Hutchins (Tift Merritt) that you might not even notice them at first, the drums provide the steady yet unobtrusive bottom end to Wildwood . It's not a shocking move for a band that many fans refer to as, 'a rock band with acoustic instruments.'

Following the creative and critical catharsis of their fourth album IV and now fully comfortable in their musical skin, CCL's classically American songwriting shines like never before on Wildwood. Songs like the instant classic sing-a-long "Crop Comes In," title-track "Wildwood" and ballad "Alone in New York" are some of the best songs in the band's estimable canon, and with sold out international tours and festivals aplenty, it's clear the quartet have no intentions of slowing down now.

Click here to read today's full Day in Pop report

Preview and Purchase Chatham County Line CDs

Chatham County Line MP3 Downloads

Day In Rock

Slayer Recruit Exodus, Knocked Loose and More For Stadium Show- KISS Army Storms Vegas Expands With More Special Guests- more

Judas Priest Star Suffered Brain Damage From Stroke- Poison In Talks For 2026 40th Anniversary Tour- Pink Floyd Preview 1968 Classic from Pompeii Concert Film- more

Ariana Grande Takes eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead To No. 1- BTS’ j-hope Makes History with First-Ever Solo Stadium Concert at LA’s BMO Stadium- more

Day In Country

Larry Fleet Pays Tribute With 'A Lotta Women'- Eric Church Bringing Three Unique Shows To Red Rocks- Lainey Wilson- more

Reviews

The Blues: Corky Siegel - Symphonic Blues No. 6

L.A. Guns - Leopard Skin

Quick Flicks: The Million Eyes of Sumuru

Bob James & Dave Koz - Just Us

Lordi - Limited Deadition