Carolina Songs by Chris Cates

Though written, produced and recorded at Asheville’s Mealtime Brown Studios, Carolina Songs owes a debt to the state’s coasts as well its peaks. Tracks like “Outer Banks,” “Slow Beach Music” and “Beach Beat” are obvious in their geographic loyalties. But Cates, a sentimental and romantic songwriter in the tradition of James Taylor, pays equal homage to mountain locales on the swinging, horn-soaked “Boogie in the Mountains” ("It’s just the Smoky Mountain trees and lots of farmer’s tans...") and the smooth jazz of “Linville Caverns” ("Go down to where there is no sound except the water falling on our head..."). Carolina is a feel-good mix of dance tempos (funk, folk rock, shag) and easy, vacation-mood lyrics a la Jimmy Buffet. Much of Cates’ inspiration can be traced to adolescent adventures and the places these occurred, but even a recent Carolina transplant could relate to this album’s physical and emotional landscape.
Visit http://www.chriscates.com for more information. - Alli Marshall

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