Country Thunder In Twin Lakes, Wisconsin - Day 2
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Thunder
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It's very rare to find up and coming artists who have spent more than just a couple of years in Nashville pursuing their dream, but today we turn our focus to a trio of songwriters and musicians who are Nashville natives. A country/southern rock hybrid band that have written song for Keith Urban, TIm McGraw and Jake Owen, and who have appeared as the opening act for artists ranging from Dierks Bentley to ZZ Top.

The Cadillac Three have been performing together, in one inception or another since they were kids. Starting with the group American Bang, Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray and Neil Mason have been playing in bands together since high school, but their friendship goes back a lot further than that. After dropping American Bang's fourth member Ben Brown, the group changed its name to The Cadillac Black, releasing a self-titled, debut album in 2012.

Country Thunder In Twin Lakes, Wisconsin - Day 2
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Thunder USA
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During the production process of their debut album, lead singer Johnston kept busy writing songs for others, including "You Gonna Fly" for Keith Urban, "Southern Girl" for Tim McGraw, and along with drummer Mason, "Days of Gold" for Jake Owen. The album was originally released independently, and received little attention. But in 2013, the trio signed with the Big Machine Record Group and re-released the album, which included their own version of "Days of Gold", reflecting the band's name change to The Cadillac Three in the album title.

Country Thunder In Twin Lakes, Wisconsin - Day 2
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Thunder
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Also on the re-release of the album was the group's debut single, "The South". The single brought together many of the trio's co-writers and friends to perform on the song, including Florida-Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley and Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band. Bolstered by an appearance on the TV show Nashville, the single peaked at #32 on the country chart in early 2014. The single, which would be nominated for an ACM award in 2014 for Vocal Event of the Year, would also be the lead single for the group's second album Bury Me In My Boots, which is scheduled for release August 5th. Two more single from the project also charted, 2014's "Party Like You", which peaked at #43 and 2015's "White Lightening", which climbed to #38 on the Billboard Country singles Chart.

It's a new year and a new single for the group. The fourth single from the unreleased album is in our spotlight today. The Cadillac Three and "Drunk Like You" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

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