Capitol Records Nashville’s Caylee Hammack is sharing more music with fans, 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 Hammack. “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,” says Hammack, “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.”
Hammack is set to make her National TV debut on TODAY on May 29 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.
