When you hear The Cadillac Three’s debut single, “The South,” it’s clear they have their own unique style and brand of country music, and lead singer Jaren Johnston thinks that has a lot to do with finding their own sound, both vocally and with the way they play their instruments. He says, “I think the main thing as far as being successful is not trying to sound like somebody else. Like, take from whoever you listen to, whoever you love, take the certain things, but don’t try to make the whole thing their thing, make it your thing.”
Jaren cites his own guitar playing as an example. “I think that’s why people have kind of gravitated towards the way that I play guitar sometimes,” he says. “It’s a very messy, ‘hope I get it right, maybe I’ll land on note that makes sense’ [style]. You know what I mean? Like people like Neil Young. But I don’t just play like Neil Young all the time, I play like myself and I think that the whole idea is make your guitar playing noticeable and different and your own style.”
The Cadillac Three is working on their debut album, which they’ll release sometime later this year.
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The Cadillac Three – Jaren guitar playing :40
Jaren Johnston – “I think the main thing as far as being successful and that, is not trying to sound like somebody else. Like, take from whoever you listen to, whoever you love, take the certain things, but don’t try to make the whole thing their thing, make it your thing. And I think that’s why people have kind of gravitated towards the way that I play guitar sometimes. It’s like, it’s a very messy, hope I get it right, maybe I’ll land on note that makes sense. You know what I mean? Like people like Neil Young. But I don’t just play like Neil Young all the time, I play like myself and I think that the whole idea is make your guitar playing noticeable and different and your own style. It’s always been that way for me with really messy guitar players, and so I kinda made it my own style.”