Caylee Hammack is sharing more music with fans today, releasing the head-turning new track “Just Friends,” available to listen here. Co-written by Hammack with Mikey Reaves and Aaron Raitiere, the song manages to channel the tones of country icons Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton in the fluttery first 29 seconds. Co-produced by Hammack, that open leads into a guitar-driven core that pays homage to ‘90s-era alternative tracks by Everclear and Weezer. In the end, Hammack moves in yet another direction, closing with rich piano chording that comes direct from a gospel playbook. “Just Friends” tells listeners much of what they need to know about Hammack. She is all of those things – the country expressionist, the grungy firebrand, the spiritual seeker – pulled together in an intoxicating, yet cohesive way.
“We sat in the studio that day, bouncing between two extremely different melodic ideas I had started about the same theme the day before; inspired by the aftermath of a breakup I had recently gone through,” explains Caylee. “We finally decided to attempt to tell both sides of the emotional rollercoaster I was on by intertwining the two melodies into one song. I loved the idea of the clear juxtaposition between the two and how this song gave us a moment to tip our hats to the older country that raised us and the 90’s alternative music we all found solace in when we were teenagers.”
“It’s one of my favorites to perform live,” she says, “I love to start crooning the opening lines at shows and watching people start to slowly sway, then snap back into focus when the electric guitars start screaming on the second verse. It shows both sides of my personality in a few minutes, which is cathartic for me.”
Hear more about the song from Hammack here.
The Ellaville, Georgia native is set to make her National TV debut on TODAY on May 29th where she will perform her “high-spirited” (Variety) single “Family Tree.” Also co-written and co-produced by Hammack, it was the most-added debut song by a female artist upon impact at Country radio in over three years. Check out the video below.
Audio / Caylee Hammack talks about the two different styles of production on her song, "Just Friends."
DownloadCaylee Hammack (Just Friends) OC: …sound. :22
“I love the idea of the juxtaposition of the very soft, kind of nod towards older country in the beginning of that song, showing a little bit more of the heartbreak and the vulnerability of going through a breakup. And then being able to get into the angst and the anger behind that breakup and being able to use that to fuel more of an Everclear-esque sound.”
Audio / Caylee Hammack talks about the song, "Just Friends."
DownloadCaylee Hammack (Just Friends) OC: …every time. :33
“I feel like women especially relate to this song because all of us have found a really good man and maybe a great friend, but was really bad at being a boyfriend and just didn’t really get the idea of that. This song is kind of going through all that frustration and the anger of, ‘I should’ve listened to my mom.’ My mom, for some reason, knew you were wrong for me, but I didn’t listen to her. I listened to my heart, and I listened to you. And I feel like it really connects with women, because all of us have went through a situation like this, and it’s frustrating every time.”
