Caleb Bailey Archives - Bluegrass Today

Minneapolis-Moline from Caleb Bailey & Paine’s Run

Turnberry Records has a new single for Virginia bluegrass singer and songwriter Caleb Bailey, a song about the struggles of an Indiana farm family trying to earn a living while feeding their community.

Caleb said he had the idea to switch things up a bit from the way these sorts of songs typically go, naming it for a Minnesota company that once produced all sorts of farm equipment, Minneapolis-Moline.

“So many people sing about John Deere, International Harvesters, and so on, I thought it would be cool to write about a tractor that may have been forgotten, Minneapolis-Moline. The Midwest farming community is the backbone of our agriculture industry, and I think this song will resonate with the beauty and the struggle of life on the farm.”

With Bailey on lead vocal, bandmates Chandler Beavers, Wyatt Wood, and Brandon Kyle provide support on mandolin, guitar and bass, with Indiana native Ron Stewart playing banjo and fiddle.

It’s a strong track, sure to ignite memories from anyone in the farming industry, or who grew up in rural regions.

Check it out…

Minneapolis-Moline is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via Get It Played. Radio folks can also contact Hope River Entertainment to get a copy of the single.

Caleb Bailey sings the anthem at Firefighters Memorial

Virginia bluegrass artist Caleb Bailey was invited to sing the National Anthem last weekend at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s National Memorial Weekend. The non-profit organization exists to honor firefighters lost in the line of duty, and to offer support to their families.

The Memorial Weekend ceremony is a rather large affair, with a great deal of pomp and circumstance, including a drum and bagpipe honor guard, and all the firefighters in their dress uniforms. Of course the point is to demonstrate to the families of the fallen the degree of dignity and respect in which the entire profession holds their missing comrades.

Bailey tells us that it was special for him, and a bit nerve wracking as well.

“I am a professional firefighter by trade. In my day job, I’m a Captain of Health & Safety with Rockingham County Fire & Rescue in Virginia. This was a distinct honor for me to blend both of my professional worlds.

The bluegrass community is a family, and so is the firefighting community. Many events in the bluegrass world are held to benefit firefighters. I think it’s that much more special that these two communities are in constant support of each other.

I will say it is the most nervous I’ve ever been to perform. You want every piece of this day to be perfect for the ones that we are there to honor.

I was truly grateful to be a part of the service.”

Typically, this service is held at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Park in Emmitsburg, MD, but was moved this year to nearby Mount Saint Mary’s University due to inclement weather.

Here’s video of the honor guard entrance and Caleb’s anthem.

Well done all!

Be Good To My Little Baby Girl from Darren Beachley and Caleb Bailey

Turnberry Records has released a new single, a collaboration between two of their artists, Darren Beachley and Caleb Bailey.

It’s their take on the Randall Hylton song, Be Good To My Little Baby Girl, recorded back in 1984 by The Bluegrass Cardinals. Darren and Caleb sing it as a duet, with Beachley taking the verses, and Caleb jumping in on the choruses.

The track makes for a nice pairing between an experienced vet in Beachley, and a fast rising newcomer in Bailey. A multi-instrumentalist as well as a vocalist, Darren has spent time with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver on bass, played guitar and reso with Springfield Exit, and is currently reso-guitarist with The Country Gentlemen Tribute Band. He also led his own group, Darren Beachley & The Legends of the Potomac for several years.

Though Caleb has only been on the scene since 2021, he has spent his whole life around bluegrass, growing up in a family of pickers in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. His Poplar & Pine solo album got the attention of Keith Barnacastle at Turnberry, and led to his signing with the label.

Darren says that he has always loved this song, and was delighted when asked to contribute vocals for a special collection project.

“Keith Barnacastle had asked me to do a song on the Turnberry compilation project, and I was honored he asked. He sent me several tunes and Baby Girl was on there. In my youth I remember the Bluegrass Cardinals cutting this one, and David Parmley sang the fire out of it. And it was written by Randall Hylton, who was an incredible songwriter.

Great piece of music to sing with an incredible bunch of pickers. And I had never sung any with Caleb Bailey, who did great on the tenor. I think it turned out well!

The song also is a close piece for me as my daughter just got married as well.”

With Darren and Caleb on vocals, support comes from Greg Cole on guitar, Jessie Baker on banjo, Mike Johnson on mandolin, Andy Leftwich on fiddle, Josh Swift on reso-guitar, and Darrin Vincent on bass. They do a bang up job on this classic song, and it’s really nice to hear it again.

Check it out…

Be Good To My Little Baby Girl is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers are invited to contact Turnberry Records for an airplay copy of the track.

Camille – new single from Caleb Bailey

Virginia’s Caleb Bailey has a new single to finish up June with his band, Paine’s Run. It’s a song he wrote about one of the most devastating storms ever to hit the United States, Hurricane Camille.

Camille first struck in the Caribbean, hitting Cuba on August 15, 1969 as a Cat 2 storm, but intensified dramatically when it got into the Gulf of Mexico. When she came across in Mississippi two days later, it was a full-strength Cat 5, and caused tremendous damage along the Gulf coast and a good ways inward. What inspired Caleb to write about Camille is that in an unusual result for a hurricane, the storm did tremendous flooding damage in the Appalachian region around the Virginia/West Virginia Border, leading to more than 150 deaths.

Bailey tells the story of the destruction like he was there, as I’m sure he has heard many descriptions from older folks about how quickly the flood waters charged through the area, with normally small streams and creeks jumping way over their banks and taking out structures and bridges as they went.

Caleb sings lead, supported by Paine’s Run: Rob Slusser on banjo, Brandon Kyle on bass, Joe Showalter on fiddle, Chandler Beavers on mandolin, and Wyatt wood on guitar.

Have a listen…

Camille is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers can find the track at AirPlay Direct.

United Flight 93 – new single from Caleb Bailey

As we approach the two decade anniversary of the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, bluegrass singer and songwriter Caleb Bailey has released a song of remembrance from his current album, Poplar & Pine.

Titled simply United Flight 93, Caleb constructed the song from witness statements and inflight communications from the fourth plane hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives, intended to crash into the US Capitol. Since this plane took off later than the earlier three, the flight was eventually commandeered by heroic passengers who learned of their fate in desperate phone calls to family members while in the air. Rather than allow the airliner full of fuel to reach its destination, they stormed the cockpit and forced the plane to the ground in Pennsylvania, sacrificing their lives to thwart the hijackers’ plans.

Bailey works as a firefighter, and we all remember the stories of the rescue and fire personnel who were killed during the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York, after having saved uncounted numbers of people working there that day. As such, the date holds a special place in his memory.

The song expresses his personal response to the assault, which he sings trading verses with Wayne Taylor of Blue Highway.

Have a listen in this graphic video.

United Flight 93 from Caleb Bailey is available now through iTunes and Spotify.

House of the Lord video from Caleb Bailey

Virginia singer and songwriter Caleb Bailey has released a music video for one of the songs on his current album, Poplar & Pine.

It’s one he wrote and sings, an old time Gospel style waltz called The House of the Lord, about a small church building that has gone up for sale following the death of its pastor. Bailey is supported by Jason Barie on fiddle, Gaven Largent on reso-guitar, and Nick Goad on mandolin.

Caleb put together the video shoot himself, recruiting family and friends to play the roles on screen with David Fletcher handling the filming and editing. They did a fine job telling the story depicted in the song.

The House of the Lord is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Caleb Bailey – Poplar & Pine

A singer and songwriter from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Caleb Bailey offers a striking solo debut with Poplar & Pine, an album that explores a range of emotions and experiences with an exceedingly impressive drive and dynamic. Bailey, a one time member of the bluegrass band Allegheny Blue, makes a marked impression, but one also has to give credit to the impressive ensemble that offers him such striking support from the first song to the last.

Indeed, with opening track, Grim Reaper, Bailey and company immediately assert their emphatic stance. Both driving and deliberate, it sets the tone for all that follows from that point on. The title track, and Red County Clay, detail the daring exploits of outlaws fully committed to pursuing a life of crime and carousing. So too, the rambling narrative, Hard Cider, provides an intoxicating entry all its own. Likewise, the busy picking and plucking shared in When the Power Fell On You finds drive and devotion stirred up emphatically with equal measure.

That energy is impressive, but Bailey is best defined by the depth of emotion he invests in each of these entries. The heart-wrenching ballad, How Do You Say Goodbye, emphasizes the difficulties of saying a final farewell to those you love, whether it’s a child striking out on her own or an elderly grandparent facing an incurable illness. Likewise, Eagles Are Made to Fly is a ballad about the joys of experiencing the true measure of freedom in a universe that’s too often constrained by conformity. Still, the most poignant song of the set figures to be United Flight 93, a song that details, from a first-hand perspective, what it was like to witness the final descent of the plane that was famously diverted away from the Capitol by its courageous passengers and then crashed in a field in Pennsylvania on 9/11. With guest vocalist Wayne Taylor adding to its emotional read, it rekindles the shock and sadness that’s no less difficult to reconcile even some 20 years on.

Ultimately, it’s that ability to seize emotion from such a personal perspective that defines Bailey’s abilities and makes Poplar & Vine such a genuinely impressive offering. He’s not only got a gift for detail, but an evocative and expressive way of conveying the sincerest sentiments as well. Consider this effort both stoic and celebratory, and indeed, quite an initial accomplishment.

The Grim Reaper from Caleb Bailey

Last week we shared news from bluegrass singer and songwriter, Caleb Bailey, as he welcomed the birth of a son, Colt Steele Bailey. We also mentioned at the time that Caleb’s debut single was set to release the next day, and so it has.

Bailey has been active in bluegrass around his native northwestern Virginia for some times. For several years he was the guitarist and lead singer with Allegheny Blue, who released a pair of self-produced albums, Greenbrier River and Train Smoke, over the past decade.

Now he is going solo, with a new album, Poplar & Pine, due to hit this spring. Utilizing the rich pool of bluegrass talent around Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley region, Caleb brought in reso-meister Gaven Largent to produce and to play both banjo and dobro. Also assisting were Caleb Cox on guitar, Austin Brown on bass, Jonathan Dillon on mandolin, Jason Barie on fiddle, and Wayne Taylor on guest vocal.

The first single is available now, one Bailey wrote called Grim Reaper, which tells of the inevitability of death, and how it is lurking for us all. With a bit of an eerie sound, the track takes a medium tempo ride through a consideration of our final journey.

Caleb describes the song’s instrumental signature.

“The musical hook, much like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, pulls you into the song, but it’s the lyrics that tell the story of the fate that will one day befall us all.

That hook was a late in-studio addition, a collaboration between Cox and Largent. We likened it to The Johnson Mountain Boys’ rendition of Duncan and Brady. Something to snag the ear.”

See what you think…

Grim Reaper is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can find the track at AirPlay Direct.

Welcome Colt Bailey!

This has been quite a week for bluegrass singer and songwriter Caleb Bailey – and it’s not over yet.

On Tuesday, he and his girlfriend, Christine Elizabeth, welcomed their first born into the world, and tomorrow (February 5), the first single from his long-awaited debut album is set to drop. In fairness to Caleb, this is not the result of poor planning on his part. It was the reticence of their son to make his appearance on schedule that is to blame, dropping in several weeks after his due date.

Colt Steele Bailey was born at 12:39 a.m. on February 2 at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, VA. He weighed in at 6 lbs, 15 oz, stretching out to 20”.

Caleb says that mom and son are both doing well. They came home from the hospital earlier today.

Congratulations to Christine and Caleb, and a big Bluegrass Today welcome to little Colt!

We’ll have more information about Caleb’s single, The Grim Reaper, in the next few days.