By David DeRocco 

Sitting by the water in Kingston, Ontario, three days after the death of Canadian icon Gord Downie, lap steel player Kelby Ray of THE CADILLAC THREE had an unexpected moment of calm reflection during a break from his band’s hectic tour schedule.

“The arena we’re playing at tonight is located on Tragically Hip Way,” said Ray, who together with  bandmates Jaren Johnston and Neil Manson form the southern rock infused country trio The Cadillac Three. “There’s a bench here covered in roses, with people coming by taking pictures. I was never the biggest Hip fan, but Jaren our singer used to listed to them quite a bit. It’s a sad thing, kind of like when Tom Petty died. We were all hugely influenced by Tom Petty, not as a country star but as a musical icon. That definitely touched us in a way that makes us realize life is short and to just enjoy what we get to do for a living.”

What The Cadillac Three have been doing for a living is creating their own signature southern blend of finessed and fiery hard rockin’ country. And while the music made by Downie and Petty will no doubt secure their lasting legacy, The Cadillac Three have recently produced their own, delivered in the form of their latest album, LEGACY. Picking up where 2016’s Bury Me In My Boots left off, the 11 self-produced tracks on LEGACY showcase the kind of country music that has landed the band tour dates with some of the genre’s biggest stars, plus their own headlining gigs across the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. It’s a modern country/rock hybrid that still manages to pay homage to country legends, a mixture Ray says reflects the musical tastes of TC3’s band members.

“If you like any kind of hippie southern rock style of country music – think think of ZZ Top and Hank Williams in a blender and poured over some shot glasses – that’s the kind of show we provide,” explained Ray, who has known his bandmates since they were teens and have been sharing stages together in various musical incarnations for nearly 15 years. “We have our own way of doing things. We’re influenced by a lot of harder 90s grunge, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and those things. But we also grew up on old country. Everybody’s that’s in country music is the same way. We’re influenced by traditional country, it’s just spanned out to a point where people are taking it in different directions. I think there is something for everybody out there who is listening to country music.”

There’s definitely something for everybody on TC3’s LEGACY album, from the reflective intimacy of the title song to standout tracks like “Take Me To the Bottom,” “American Slang” and “Dang If We Didn’t.”  While a lot of new country is awash in excess and slick production, the cohesiveness of the music on LEGACY can be directly attributed to the band’s “less is more” attitude – a reality made easier by the simple fact they're a trio. 

“When you go into the studio, it’s a lot easier to record as a three-piece because there’s a lot less of us in there, less cooks in the kitchen. And we can work fast in the studio. As much as we tour it doesn’t leave us much time to actually be in the studio, so we try to knock off as much as we can going in. We’ll record three songs in a day. If you’re working with too many people it can take a week to record one song. We don’t have that kind of time and luxury.”

The one challenge being a three-piece presents, however, is recreating what’s done in a studio on stage. There is no guest keyboard player, no second percussionist and no bassist, as Ray holds down the low end on his lap steel. That doesn’t stop TC3 from delivering a kick-ass live performance according to Ray.

“When we go live we just try to figure out how to make it sound as full as we can with three people. I’m up there kind of doing two things at once, covering the bass and the steel guitar, kind of like The Doors and their keyboardist. We just find ways to fill it out live.”

With the band rolling into the Town Ballroom in Niagara Fals, NY, Sept 13 with Black Stone Cherry, fans will get a chance to see what these long-haired hell raisers can deliver on stage. And while Ray has seen his share of polite Canadian audiences on their tour, he’s hoping to ramp up the rowdiness in the hopes of coming back on as headliners next time through.

“(Canadian audiences) are definitely more polite than anywhere in the world that we’ve been to, but it’s not like you don’t like to party. The shows we play up there that we’ve headlined it’s always been a rowdy awesome crowd. This tour was a great opportunity for us to spread the love up here, and hopefully we can come back up here and headline next year.”