Title: “Some Roads Lead To Nowhere”Release Date: December 22, 2013
Recorded: January – November, 2013, Three Crow Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genres: Alternative Rock, Southern Rock, Celtic Rock, Country, Americana, Folk
Length: 74:12
Label: Ocean Records
Producers: Brandon Caulfield, Sarah Jade Harrison, JR Rhythm
“Some Roads Lead To Nowhere” is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter ‘Brandon Caulfield’, it is the highly anticipated follow-up to his summer 2012 full-length release “Tales From The Heartlands” which became his most commercially successful release in his career to date and also spawned three hit singles in the form of “The Ballad Of A Vagabond (feat. Cristina Lake)”, “My Disenchanted Society” and “Better Days Ahead”. It follows on from the Country and Americana roots that the musician explored with in ‘Tales From The Heartlands’. Like the majority of Caulfield’s music to date, it takes a great deal of influence from a number of iconic musicians that tend to include the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, all of which are artists that Caulfield has
“Obsessed over for years”. The album has received little build up as it has been worked on for almost 12 months, but has seen the release of two number one singles in the form of
“Arizona” and
“Nightbirds Are Flyin’” already this year, which has seen Caulfield’s status within the industry go from unknown indie songwriter to hugely popular folk troubadour, this status was all but confirmed as he was asked to headline the 2013 No Venues Tour, making it the first time since his brief work as temporary lead singer of The Bards that the musician has been willing to play venues at such a large scale.
Some of the songs from the record actually date back to late 2012, the initial plan was to get the album recorded throughout December to February 2013, but various things have stalled the recording process. The main thing of course, being family life and recent fatherhood and not to mention Caulfield’s reputation as a notorious perfectionist when it comes to his own craft as a musician. There had been rumours earlier in the year that Caulfield could be recording another album with iconic rock band ‘The Bards’, but the rumours died away rather swiftly and Caulfield concentrated on building up a collection of new songs to demo at his recording studio in his hometown of Los Angeles, California and worked on these whenever time would allow, which was proving more difficult as a new father.
The album was recorded between January and November of 2013, at Caulfield’s own studio, ‘Three Crow Studios’ in Los Angeles, California, an isolated custom-built studio just outside of Los Angeles. This record sees a heavier influence on a Country and Americana style that Caulfield introduced on his previous record, ‘Tales From The Heartlands’. It will be produced by Caulfield alongside long-time collaborators ‘Sarah Jade Harrison’ and ‘JR Rhythm’ and the record will also mark the musicians first major release under the ‘Ocean Records’ label. The album will see a worldwide release on Sunday 22, December, 2013.
The AlbumFollowing the unexpected success of his third studio album ‘Tales From The Heartlands’, Brandon Caulfield had almost gone from an unknown folk gem to a hugely popular storyteller. Following in the footsteps of his biggest musical idols, ‘Bruce Springsteen’ and ‘Bob Dylan’ and their own meteoric rise within the music industry. This was done without compromising artistic vision or losing creative control, done at his own pace and with minimal fuss, ‘Heartlands’ was released in the summer of 2012, four singles were released from the record, three of which went to number one which surprised even the most blind-sighted and passionate Caulfield fans. A collaboration with ‘Cristina Lake’ ignited a successful period and the two shared the stage during a performance at an awards ceremony, the momentum was very much with the often quiet and low-key musician and he handled it in trademark fashion, mostly by ignorance. However, he did use this period as an opportunity to help those that needed it.
In late 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the U.S and devastated everything in its path, Cities that held personal memories from Caulfield’s youth and early adulthood. He penned a charity single, titled ‘Wild Is The Wind’ and brought his wife ‘Hannah Beth’ into the picture along with ‘Hayden’ and ‘Isabel’, the single was intended to raise some money for those affected by the devastation, little did he expect the song to hit number #1 and raise anywhere near the amounts that it did, the amounts doubled by each person that appeared on the track and he had done his part.
At the beginning of 2013, Caulfield released a single which was the leading single from his upcoming new record that he would be working on, the track was called ‘Arizona’ and again it saw Caulfield placed at the top of the charts. The following months saw a period of quietness from Caulfield, something that fans had become accustomed to. Partly down to his wife giving birth to twins Caleb and Charlotte and partly down to Caulfield’s own traits. Nothing was heard for a short while, he re-emerged to play some shows in May and June where he tested out new material on his audiences, but once again the man disappeared briefly, emerging once more in August with news that he was to headline the No Venues Tour for a couple of months, this combined with the release of his second single from his still unannounced fourth studio album, the single was called ‘Nightbirds Are Flyin’’ and it followed on from previous success, marking four consecutive number #1 singles. Anticipation for his fourth studio album built, fans flocked to see him at the No Venues Tour, a performer that tends to shun such high profile concert venues but he revelled in the limelight, embracing the legions of fans during the tour. What was noticeable was the growing country influence during his performances, his voice appeared to have an added twang to it and sounded a little more weather-worn than before and slide-guitars became a bigger feature, there was also more of a comfort onstage from the musician that struggled so badly from anxiety in the early stages of his career.
It was evident from this run of performances that Caulfield had now truly grown into a fully-fledged musician with the ability and confidence to dictate the energy and passion of any crowd that would be willing to listen.
Tracklisting1. Memories Of You (4:17)
2. Sweet Louisiana Rain (5:34)
3. I’m A Runner And My Fathers Son (4:42)
4. The Fine Art Of Growin’ Old (feat. Ellie-Grace Summers) (4:29)
5. Arizona (5:06)
6. Travelin’ On (4:12)
7. Nightbirds Are Flyin’ (3:57)
8. You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Side (5:02)
9. From The Streets Of Dublin (6:46)
10. At The Edge Of Darkness (4:13)
11. 21 (3:17)
12. Maybe I’m Gonna Break Your Cheatin’ Heart (4:42)
13. I Don’t Wanna Stay Like This (4:34)
14. Awakening On A Rainy Wednesday Morning (6:52)
15. It Looks Like Heaven Has Another Angel Now (5:07)
16. The Road That Leads Us Nowhere (4:02)PersonnelBrandon Caulfield – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, lyrics, composition, art direction, production
Flynn McCarthy – guitar, drums, mandolin, fiddle, backing vocals
Dylan O’Connor – banjo, dobro, electric guitar, bass guitar, upright bass
Sarah Jade Harrison – acoustic guitar, piano, violin, backing vocals, production
Alexia Quinn – guitar, bass guitar, piano, accordion, organ, backing vocals
Ellie-Grace Summers – vocals, acoustic guitar, lyrics
*track 4 only*JR Rhythm – electric guitar, production, composition
Haley Caulfield – photography, art direction
