Just four days after making his late-night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Charles Wesley Godwin is back with a brand new, Apple Music exclusive EP, Apple Music Nashville Sessions.
The EP contains fan favorites from Godwin’s major label debut, including Cue Country Roads and Family Ties as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 1995 deep cut, Youngstown.
This isn’t the first time he’s shown appreciation for Springsteen. Family Ties included 10-38, which was written by Godwin as a sequel to State Trooper, another deep cut from Springsteen’s 1982 album, Nebraska.
Family Ties and Cue Country Roads received a major revamp compared to the original studio versions with Cue Country Roads being the most different song sonically.
Making a radical change from the romping original performance, this version of Cue Country Roads has a very gothic feel in nature. The overdriven guitars and thick drum beats are replaced with a much more subtle, acoustic production overall. It gives the song a brand new identity that I never would have imagined the track having.
The whining steel guitar and the acoustic guitar riffs give the song a much more Appalachian and mystical vibe that plays incredibly well with the lyrical content of the song.
As for Family Ties, it is a much more straightforward acoustic version. The arrangement does not have any radical changes the way Cue Country Roads has. Regardless, it’s still a fantastic performance that still contains the iconic line, “Strike me down if I cut family ties” in all of its glory.
Overall, the EP was a fantastic surprise drop from the Temporary Town singer that feels like a thoughtful reimaging of the songs fans have grown to love. It is available to stream on Apple Music right now.
Listen to Godwin’s acoustic cover of Youngstown from 2020 here: