It feels like Christmas Eve right now.
I’m sitting here counting down the hours until I can finally listen to Family Ties, the highly-anticipated third album from West Virginia native and one of country music’s fastest-growing superstars, Charles Wesley Godwin.
Charles has made a name for himself not only with the incredible storytelling on his first two albums, Seneca and How the Mighty Fall, but also for his high-energy live shows as he’s played to sold-out crowds around the country.
His success led him to sign his first record deal earlier this year when he inked with Big Loud Records, the record label that’s also home to artists like Morgan Wallen, HARDY and Ernest along with other up-and-comers like Larry Fleet, Hailey Whitters and and Jake Worthington.
It was obviously a huge career step for an artist who’s seen so much independent success, but it’s one that Charles said has proven to be the right move.
Charles spoke with Whiskey Riff about his upcoming album last night, and said that he’s hopeful that having a label behind him for the first time will help his music touch even more lives than it already has:
“There’s been much more support around the whole thing, with press and advertising and opportunities just that come up.
It’s the whole reason why I signed with a label. It’s all seeming to look like it was the right decision to get that kind of team around me, and I think it’s going to help serve the music and just let more people know about it, and know that it exists, and touch more people and allow more people to enjoy it, and improve their lives hopefully.”
Of course any time an artist with so many established fans signs with a label, there are always going to be those who claim that they’re “selling out” or worry that the music from their favorite artist is going to change. But Charles says that’s not the case – and that he actually finished Family Ties before he had even inked the record deal:
“I made it when I was still independent and just handed it to the label, and they loved it.”
He also says that there was nothing on the album that his label made him change, and that his new home at Big Loud is such a good fit for him because they’re so supportive of what he already does:
“I think if that’s something that somebody finds themself in then it’s not a good fit. That was never on the bargaining table, was a situation like that. And Big Loud’s been great about that. They’re fully supportive.”
And he has a message for anybody who’s worried that his music’s going to change now that he’s signed with a label:
“Find out. They can listen and decide for themselves.”
As a longtime CWG fan, it’s good to know that he’s not changing things up just because he’s signed with a label. Although that was pretty clear from the incredible songs that he’s already released from the upcoming album.
If you’re like me and haven’t been able to get enough of Seneca and How the Mighty Fall, I have a feeling we’re all going to be just as excited about Family Ties.