Hello Caleb Lovely! We know you grew up in an abusive environment but now you strive to turn your experience into music that we can all enjoy. How do you think these experiences have shaped your artistry and writing? How has your sound developed through your musical journey as a result?
It has had a profound negative effect on my creativity and artistry. Especially being raised in a southern religious household, I grew up constantly having my success with music equated to a loss of my relationship with God.
My father devalued my love for music at every chance he got. To pursue my dream of music was seen as narcissism and a failure in the eyes of the church. So for a long time, it’s held me back. I’ve devalued myself in my career, and even more so in my personal life. Over time I’ve realized that this thinking and way of life are toxic and flawed. I had to set myself free from a lot of mental baggage. I met the love of my life and it’s been life-changing. I’ve been able to move past how I was raised and make the music I want to make. To write about the things that matter and create music that is undeniable.
My wife has never once made me feel like my dreams are selfish, in fact, she loves me more than I knew possible which has allowed me to pursue my career wholeheartedly with zero restraint. It’s a team dream. My only grievance with God is that I didn’t meet my wife sooner. We loved your new song, “With Him Tonight”! Can you delve deeper into the meaning of the lyrics and how the production came about? \Thank you so much! It’s a song for all the women and even men who feel undervalued in a relationship, who feel stuck. I’ve learned that there is someone out there in this world that wants to show you how to truly live and show you what you’re made of. There is someone who will think you’re out of this world. This song feels like summer love; whether that’s loving yourself or someone else, it’s about knowing what you deserve and feeling good about that. I originally wrote this song with some other Nashville writers, Morgan Brown and Steve Lester. We’ve written a couple of songs together that will definitely be released in the near future. I took the work tape from the day and re-envisioned it to fit what I felt moves me. Instrumentally I wanted the song to be reminiscent of early 2000’s pop-rock records with country music instrumentation. I had a blast recording Dobro, mandolin, Banjo. You say that you’ve grounded yourself in Nashville and it has now become home for you. How do you think moving here changed the way you create music? What are some cultural differences you’ve had to adjust to? I met the love of my life here who has shown me so much more about how to truly live life, how to love, and care, and dream. I’m the most myself that I’ve ever been to. The biggest adjustment in Nashville is that most people write music to please their friends and gain fleeting clout within small circles, they’re not making the music they want to make and they’re not really that happy because when you live under the constant pressure of pleasing everyone’s opinion and the idea of you, you never really get to live as yourself. Rooting myself in Nashville I’ve learned to make the music I want to make with the instruments that allow me to feel the way I want music to feel, and to impact people for a greater good than selfish gain. It’s not about momentary satisfaction, it’s about the bigger picture, creating something that will be bigger than me. What is the ultimate goal you would like to achieve in your musical career? Is this being worked on or put into place currently? The ultimate goal for me as an artist is to be a catalyst for change. Impacting as many people as I can with my voice which speaks for love, heartbreak, messed-up families, and growing who you are through all of that. And hell yeah it’s being put into place to continue to show up every day and put out music that is worthy of the world's ears. What's next for you? I’ll be releasing a single a month for the rest of the year! Be sure to keep up, it’s going to be insane. I think it’s the best group of work I’ve released to date.