Album Review – Caitlyn Smith’s “High & Low”

Why is it falling to Saving Country Music dot com to throw some deserved pub behind this damn album? This is the place for reviews of hipster dorks in east Nashville in their thrift store Nudie suits trying to sound like Lefty Frizzell, or Outlaws that look like they’re trying out as extras on Sons of Anarchy, or wild-ass Appalachia hilljacks and their cracked voices crying out about about coal and cocaine.
If you’ve gotta listen to country pop though, make it Caitlyn Smith. Even before her debut album Starfire was nominated for Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year in 2018, she was one of the few bright spots in the pop country space where you didn’t give a damn that she didn’t sound like traditional country given the strength of her songwriting, and the power, range, and sweetness behind her voice.
Caitlyn’s 2020 album Supernova had its moments too, but just veered too much into the exclusively pop realm for it to be remarked upon here. This new one has some of those exclusively pop moments too, but High & Low also has some of those mind-blowing, goosebump-inducing songs that only Caitlyn Smith can deliver, and you couldn’t care less how country they sound. High & Low also happens to have just enough acoustic instrumentation here and there where you don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you get from this album as a country fan.
What the hell is mainstream country music doing pushing Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris to the front of the class when an artist the caliber of Caitlyn Smith is out there releasing songs like these and singing the hell out of them? She’s the consummate songwriter if there ever was one, crafting stories around the meaningful moments in all of our lives to the point where performers well beyond country like Meghan Trainor and Miley Cyrus come to pilfer her catalog.
In fact, you rarely even see folks in country covering Caitlyn songs anymore because top pop country performers all want a portion of the rights, and so songwriters have to ride around in buses with them on tour for a cut. Sunny Sweeney and Miley Cyrus recently co-wrote with Caitlyn. So at least they know what’s up. And George Strait regularly books Caitlyn as a favorite for his few shows annually. So even he’s paying attention.
A very strong case can be made that Caitlyn Smith is the greatest singer in all of country music at the moment. Yet when award show time comes around, is Caitlyn Smith nominated for top selections or given a performance slot? Of course not. The ACMs finally nominated her for Best New Female Artist in 2022—you know, a good dozen years after she’s been killing it.
And Caitlyn Smith continues to kill it now. As a country fan, you have to go cherry picking through an album like this. But when you land on something like “Mississippi” or “Alaska,” the berry’s so sweet, it’s worth the hunt. Maybe more pop-oriented songs like “High” and “Dreamin’s Free” aren’t exactly your thing. But you can still appreciate the mastery of the writing, and the skilled performance Caitlyn Smith brings to them.

Caitlyn Smith just can do things with her voice others can’t. It’s not just the range, but the textures, volumes, dynamics, and moods she’s able to utilize. She even knows how to use breath and pauses to her advantage. And most importantly, Caitlyn has the boldness and confidence to go where some other singers could go, but are too scared to. She’s like a skilled acrobat, and knows how to write to her strengths. And along with Ben West who she co-produced this album with, Caitlyn also knows how to pick the right instrumentation to compliment the mood intended.
The reason Caitlyn sometimes veers into straight up pop on this album like in the pretty terrible song “Downtown Baby” is because she has to populate her records with songs that the pop world may find appeal in too because Caitlyn Smith is still seen as a songwriter by the industry as opposed to a featured performer. This is a gross miscalculation by the country industry. They are squandering one of the genre’s greatest talents while any Bro with a radio single gets gerrymandered to #1.
Caitlyn Smith songs aren’t always autobiographical, but “Writing Songs and Raising Babies” most certainly is. Perhaps Caitlyn Smith is just too damn good to be a superstar. She also might be too centered and grounded to be one either. She’s not the kind of narcissist you need to be in the mainstream country business to succeed at the highest reaches. She just wants to write songs and sing them.
But even though Caitlyn Smith gets little love from country radio—and even the “Women in Country!” orgs and loudmouths virtually ignore her because she’s not on Twitter telling everyone how they should think, which makes her useless to that class—the public knows what’s up, and they always have. That is what’s so galling about this whole matter. Caitlyn Smith clearly has resonance, and in much greater measures when you look at her streaming numbers than some of the men and women the industry continues to shove down the country consumer’s throat because they need to make good on an investment.
So here it is falling to independent outlets like Saving Country Music and others to put the importance of Caitlyn Smith’s career and music into proper context. No, this is not a traditional country album, by any stretch. But if this is what defined country pop in 2023, there would be no need for a site like Saving Country Music.
7.4/10
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Purchase Caitlyn Smith’s High & Low
April 21, 2023 @ 11:07 am
Caitlyn Smith is phenomenal, no other way to put it. She definitely is deserving of much more attention than she currently gets. I’ll admit, I sometimes have a bit of a soft spot for good pop country, and she is the best it gets.
April 21, 2023 @ 11:16 am
We saw her at a small venue in Urbana, IL in 2018, thanks to SCM bringing her to our attention. She put on a fantastic show, and was gracious and friendly when we snagged a pic with her afterwards. Very happy to see she is having success, looking forward to checking out this album
April 21, 2023 @ 11:18 am
Thanks for featuring Caitlyn Smith and Charlie Marie in back to back articles. Both very talented women, and I’m glad to see them get some shine and attention.
April 21, 2023 @ 11:50 am
One word: motherhood. I’d love to read a discussion on why country music is incompatible with raising children.
April 21, 2023 @ 4:14 pm
Dude, everything is incompatible with raising children. It’s really surprising we’re here at all.
April 22, 2023 @ 11:43 am
Its amazing they get to adulthood without getting eaten by frazzled parents
April 21, 2023 @ 2:46 pm
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been listening to “High & Low” pretty much non-stop since Monday. The album’s a brilliant union of songwriting, vocal performance, and production. I think it’s got some minor sequencing problems, in part because of Downtown Baby and Good As Us, which don’t feel like they quite gel with the rest of the album. But like “Starfire,” it’s an album I’ll be returning to over and over.
I’d likewise love for more country artists to be performing Smith’s songs, though I’d note that Trisha Yearwood sang three of them on 2019’s “Every Girl.” But even more, it feels like Caitlyn Smith ought to be a dream come true/”take my money” moment for the millions who loved 90s/early 00s-era Trisha, Reba, Martina, Faith, Wynonna, etc. (and that’s just on the country side). She’s got the voice, the production, and the songs—and in Smith’s case, she’s bringing all three herself. Fingers crossed her label can figure out a way to connect her to her audience.
April 21, 2023 @ 4:48 pm
Any thoughts on the new Ian Munsick? I think it’s exactly what more mainstream country should. Poppy sometimes but so western
April 21, 2023 @ 5:33 pm
I have it in my listening rotation. I will say, I saw him at a festival earlier this year, and he was playing to all kinds of blacking tracks, and that was disheartening. Saw that with a couple of mainstream up-and-comers at the Two Step Inn fest last weekend as well.
April 21, 2023 @ 10:40 pm
Speaking of backing tracks……I said goodbye to Granger Smith here last night and the entire show except for 1 acoustic song was a horrible wall of sound to an awful backing track in front of ridiculous video wall screens of abstract bullshit and pink and yellow lights. Nothing about the show even vaguely resembled Country music. Thank God (no pun intended) he’s retiring to do whatever, the poor guy hasn’t had a clue in 5 years or more. I was going to chime in on the Granger retiring thread early on with a fairly in depth opinion but chose not to out of respect and I didn’t wanna kick a guy when he’s down and now out….. then Trig closed it. I and many of us as musicians understand why some MAY have to use a “little” track help to fill out a show here and there because you can’t afford a full band but some go way overboard. To Casey, I gave the Munsick album a spin a few days ago and his voice kind of annoys me but it’s not the worse thing I’ve ever heard. Apologies to Caitlyn Smith fans for the off topic interruption here it’s just the backing track thing can’t be ignored. I hadn’t run into it in Country music until last night. Trig obviously has…..carry on……..
April 22, 2023 @ 12:47 am
That’s disappointing. I don’t like hijacking posts about other artists but I really am into this latest album. Was curious about your take on it.
April 22, 2023 @ 7:15 am
The album is an entirely different animal and should be regarded on its own merit. And if I review it, that’s what I’ll do.
April 22, 2023 @ 11:45 am
I saw Ian a year or so ago and he had the bass on a backing track, but it was just fine by me. The show was much less poppy/modern sounding than his recorded stuff and I’d definitely go see him and his high energy band again.
April 21, 2023 @ 6:38 pm
Saw her play in Charlotte on Wednesday night. She jumped off the stage and sang Tacoma in the middle of the crowd. It was one of the most memorable concert moments I’ve ever experienced. Absolutely incredible.
April 22, 2023 @ 4:20 am
-10 points for mississippi “hits me like a burning whiskey” alcoholic laundry list bullshit. DAT FIREBALL WHISKEY DATS WHAT WE DO ROUND HEAH FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE G’NOMESAYIN
April 22, 2023 @ 7:18 am
Yeah, this is off. Sure, there are some alcohol references here. But this ain’t Florida Georgia Line. Not even close.
April 22, 2023 @ 5:37 am
…miss smith is nominated at the forthcoming acm awards in the “new female artist of the year” category. hence, some people must have taken notice of her talent lately. she seems to have a weakness for geography when it comes to song titles: alaska, mississippi, nashville. if she continued highlighting places so frequently, google maps or rand mcnally might be thinking of sponsoring her next us tour. the odds on her winning on may 11 could be rather tempting for a little bet on the woman least likely (on paper) to succeed out of that interesting bunch of nominees.
April 22, 2023 @ 6:49 am
I’m not as big a fan of Caitlyn Smith as I would be if it wasn’t for the over the top production of a mainstream artist. However, the acoustic version of her Supernova album caught my attention a couple years ago. Smith has a beautiful voice that almost goes unnoticed through the production of her albums. Her vocals remind me a lot of Texas Country singer Haley Cole, who has seemingly disappeared from music altogether.
I’m enjoying a few songs on this album, but can’t help myself from thinking about how much better she would be wrapped in a less radio friendly package. Caroline Jones, another great singer and multi instrumentalist, is another one that shines when she releases acoustic or stripped down songs, but whose talent is masked by production. The price of success in Nashville I suppose.
April 22, 2023 @ 9:18 am
Love Caitlyn, anything she puts out is auto-buy for me. On the one hand I feel like she just needs a shot at a “Stapleton on the CMAs” moment to explode. On the other hand I think people are more drawn in by vocal “tone” than vocal skill, for lack of a better word, and while she’s as good as literally anyone in music today, maybe doesn’t quite have that unique tone to catch people’s attention. But what do I know.
Anyway, I missed seeing her live last time around, and am still disappointed about it. As good as the records are it’s got to be unreal in person. Reminds me, I think she was going to open for Maren Morris a while back? Seemed like a risky move on Maren’s part.