It was 2015 and The Cadillac Three had been booked to perform on the main stage at one of the UK’s biggest music festivals. They were determined not to miss out – even though they had gigs booked the day before and the day after back in the United States.
The southern rock band’s lead singer, Jaren Johnston, recounted the story with a sigh and a smile.
“It was insane. We played an afternoon stadium show in Nashville for the CMA (Country Music Association), went straight to the airport and flew to London, then on the bus to Download (in Leicestershire) and discovered that all of our gear and my clothes had been lost.
“So I had to wear my sound guy’s Doc Marten boots, the pants I flew over in with no belt, and I borrowed a shirt and a guitar from Black Stone Cherry, who were also on the bill.
“We happened to be opening for Aerosmith and I was working with Steven Tyler on his solo record at the time. He landed in a helicopter in the middle of a field, and his daughter Liv Tyler and her kids were with him, and he came running over to me and we all got to hang out.
“It was great. Then we flew home to Nashville, jumped in the bus and drove to Michigan. But when we pulled up to the venue we realised the show had been rained off, so the driver turned around and we just slept all the way home. It was wild, man.”
That devotion – and a mixing pot of sounds that touches upon southern rock, country, hard rock, funk and blues – has given rise to The Cadillac Three’s impressive following in the UK. Often playing to bigger crowds here than in their homeland, the trio are delighted to be returning to these shores for the first time since 2017.
“Every time we got close to doing this latest tour, something would happen,” Johnston continued. “The roughest one was last year, when we were supposed to be leaving the next day and then we couldn’t go.
“We’ve been coming over since 2013 and we didn’t know what to expect at first. We put one show on sale in London after the first record came out and it sold out in 20 minutes. It was only 300 tickets, but we thought that was pretty cool since we’d never been over. We did a club tour after that and we kept coming back every year until the recent situation.
“Whatever you want to call this music – southern rock, country rock, whatever – there seems to be some sort of movement in the UK and we’re happy to be at the head of it.”
Having such an eclectic style has led to plenty of opportunities.“I like that we have such a broad spectrum, which means we can go out and play with acts like ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Mastodon, Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton,” said Johnston.
“We fit into a lot of different places and I don’t think there are many bands who can say that.”
The Cadillac Three released two albums in 2020. The second, Tabasco And Sweet Tea, featured a funkier sound and Johnston said he was keen to get it out as soon as they possibly could.
“I called the president of our record label and told him I had this really cool thing and could we put it out tomorrow. He said he didn’t know about tomorrow but what about in two weeks? I figured there were a bunch of fans sitting on couches all over the world, not being able to go anywhere, and drinking beer with no new music, so I thought, let’s give them some new music to drink beer to!”
Also a prolific songwriter, turning out hundreds of tracks every year and writing for the likes of Keith Urban, Johnston’s father was the staff drummer at the Grand Ole Opry, so there was never any doubt as to where his future lay.
“It was always understood this is what I was going to do,” he smiled. “I got out of school as quickly as possible, went on the road at 19 and I’ve been doing it ever since, and I’m 41 now. It was always the plan.”
The Cadillac Three, O2 Academy, Glasgow, Friday
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