Catesby Jones – These Flags We Fly

Great songs work well in a variety of styles because underneath it all, they’re great songs. Catesby Jones’ new one, These Flags We Fly, helps to articulate this point. Stylistic elements vary throughout and they all work spectacularly well because it always comes down to one thing – the song.

You know Jones from “Country Club”, the hit song he wrote for Travis Tritt. But if you think Catesby is just a country guy, you’re wrong. While every one of the tracks on These Flags We Fly is worthy of our attention, we’re going to focus on the second half of the record as it best illustrates my point.

“What We Did To Deserve Dogs” ponders the question any reasonably astute dog parent has asked himself. Tethered to an infectious pseudo Motown bass line, it’s a real earworm. Then there’s “You’re Still Here”, oozing a Burt Bacharach kind of cool. “I’ve Got Some Blues For You” is a great bit of 12 bar blues.

“While you were downtown drinkin’, runnin’ ‘round on me, that sweet thing from the liquor store made a home delivery”. Message received.  

I can count the number of songs that bring a tear to my eye on one hand. Add one more. “Just Because I Can” is a powerful song and the perfect finish to a wonderfully complete listening experience.

While the songs (and songwriter) are the stars here, let’s not overlook the contributions of the disc’s producer, Jamie Hoover. He possesses a sixth sense – the uncanny ability to take a great song and give it just what it needs to take it to an even greater height.

Get Catesby Jones’ These Flags We Fly Here

Don’t miss this one. It’s one of my favorites of 2023 so far. Get your copy of Catesby Jones’ These Flags We Fly at Apple Music, Amazon or anywhere fine music is sold.