Heavy Thrill, recorded at Johnny Cash's cabin, follows the North Carolina native as he launches his own label, prepares to become a parent, and grapples with anxiety

No sooner had Caleb Caudle written “Heavy Thrill” than he became mystified by the song.

“This life that I live, it comes with amazing highs and incredible lows, and there’s a lot of sacrifice,” Caudle says. “But there’s all these moments that you get to have and you just couldn’t get there without all that sacrifice. I just kept coming back to that — the cyclical-ness of it all.”

The tune became the title track to Heavy Thrill, Caudle’s ninth studio album and first since 2024’s Sweet Critters. Heavy Thrill dropped earlier this month on Caudle’s startup label, Handplow Records.

For Caudle, a prolific folk singer-songwriter from North Carolina, Heavy Thrill represents uncharted territory on a personal level. He and his wife, Lauren, announced in February that they are expecting their first child this summer. The combination of excitement and uncertainty hung over Caudle when he recorded the album. As an artist who often publicly discusses mental health struggles, Caudle was willing to channel the anxiety that comes with impending parenthood throughout the process of writing and recording Heavy Thrill.

The song that gets most directly to this point, however, was written before he found out Lauren was pregnant. On “Anxious,” Caudle sings, “Always lookin’ for a reason to keep caring about every little detail in a world that don’t,” over a two-four, guitar-and-percussion melody.

“Look around, there’s a lot to be anxious about,” Caudle says. “I’ve certainly been pretty forward about struggling with mental health issues, and I don’t think that’s unique to me. But I just try to be honest about it, you know? I’ve gone to therapy, and it has changed my mindset, and I’m just trying to do what works. That also involves songwriting, which I use as an additional form of therapy.

“That song is just about the chaos of the world. I wrote it before I knew that I was gonna be a dad. But now knowing that I will be a dad in July, I feel it, like, tenfold. It’s about perseverance and trying to become a better version of yourself each day.”

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The new ground the LP represents extends to the studio, too. He recorded Heavy Thrill at the famed Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Caudle has recorded at the studio that Johnny Cash built before, but this marks the first time he self-produced an album.

“I recorded all my parts first,” he says, “so that I could be in the control room. Everybody else, basically, recorded along to my final take. I did that so that I could actually put on listening ears rather than be a part of the performance while trying to listen at the same time.”

After writing all 10 songs — with Natalie Hemby claiming the lone co-write on “Toll Booth,” the ode to resilience that closes out the album — and producing Heavy Thrill, Caudle went all-in. Even before the current wave of artist-owned labels swept the worlds of folk and Americana, he was enamored with the ones that John Prine (Oh Boy Records) and Jason Isbell (Southeastern) launched in service of their own catalogs. And so Caudle launched Handplow Records.

“I spread myself really thin, so I just work until I can’t, and then I try to figure out ways to maneuver through that,” he says. “But what’s terrifying is when I think of how I’ll feel being away with a baby boy at home when I’m touring. I’ve never had that situation before, and there’s a lot of nervousness around the unknown.”

One saving grace he finds in that chaos is his home state. Caudle has been playing bars and festivals around North Carolina for the better part of two decades. He can make a living staying somewhat close to home. In October, he’ll play the Raleigh Wide Open Music Festival.

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Being able to drive himself to shows and avoid the expenses associated with sky-high gas prices, a tour bus, and a substantial road crew is a plus for an indie artist. But, Caudle says, even without considering all that, he wants to play in North Carolina simply because it’s home. According to Caudle, the music that came out of North Carolina is underrated, specifically citing Doc Watson and John Coltrane.

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“It’s a huge part of my identity,” he says. “It’s an easy place to fall in love with, and it’s an easy place to celebrate. It’s worth fighting for.”

Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose upcoming book, Sonoran Sounds, is set for release in March 2027 via Back Lounge Publishing.