East Texas band Sheila and the Caddo Kats won the 2022 International Josie Music Award for “Album of the Year” at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry recently. The award was given to the band for their 10-song album “Country Soul Living in the City.”
The album was released on Jan. 20.
“I was just speechless,” Sheila Clark Fox, the band’s lead singer, guitarist and percussionist, recalled about winning the award. “Especially when we were called up to the Grand Ole Opry stage to accept our award and say a few words for all the people out there who adore the ‘Kats.’ We appreciate all our fans and folks that have supported us.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” began Alan Fox, the band’s manager, guitarist and vocalist, “because it’s been nothing but a cyclone ever since we got back from Nashville.”
A year ago, in November 2021, instead of spending time with family and friends for the holidays, Sheila and the Caddo Kats began work on “Country Soul Living in the City.”
“Everything just flowed out like it was meant to be,” Alan explained.
To the band, all 10 songs felt and sounded great right away. They produced this critically acclaimed album in their own home studio. The band would finish this independent project once they designed a brightly-lit Dallas skyline atop a dark country road for the album cover, which would tie into their overall theme.
They submitted their album to the International Josie Music Awards in 2022. The band could only hope to be nominated because there were over 50,000 entries worldwide. In total, five albums were nominated.
“When they called our names, I turned to Sheila, and she turned to me... Our friends were nominated for “Rock Band of the Year,” but they couldn’t attend, and I was sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, let them win, because we’re supposed to get up on stage and accept the award on their behalf and return it to them.’ They didn’t win, and I was sitting there thinking, ‘Man, I want to stand on that Grand Ole Opry stage,’ so I didn’t think we’d make it because I had no idea. It’s as if you’re thinking, ‘Pinch me, am I dreaming or what?’”
Terry Slayer, the band’s drummer, percussionist and vocalist, as well as his wife, were in attendance. Sheila and Alan were there with Sheila’s granddaughter, but Stephen Allen, the band’s bassist and vocalist, was unable to attend. The week before the awards, Nashville held a memorial service for Loretta Lynn, the late and great country singer who died recently.
“I’m not sure if it was a sign or what, but we got back from Nashville and wrote a song in tribute to Loretta Lynn, and it’s already getting airplay,” Alan recalled. “The Great Loretta Lynn” is the title of the song.
The band performed in a singer’s circle the day before the awards with legendary country singer Bobby Mackey and his friend, major radio DJ HD Ainsworth. After winning that weekend, Ainsworth would host the band on his radio show.
As a result of that connection, other radio DJs contacted the band in the hopes of playing their new Loretta Lynn tribute song. That weekend, Bobby Mackey was inducted into the Independent Country Music Hall of Fame. Alan was assigned to sit next to Mackey, and the two would be elbowing and laughing throughout the show.
Sheila and the Caddo Kats are on a mission to show people that music can convey the joy of being alive and having fun. They bill themselves as “today’s variety band” in order to appeal to the diverse audiences who frequent the smaller, local venues where they typically perform.
Sheila and the Caddo Kats have been together for seven years. All of the members are from East Texas, with Sheila from Marshall and Alan from Carthage. Slayer is from Arp, and Allen is from Kilgore. Every member of the band sings and harmonizes, giving them an advantage over other bands.
The album is about the conflict between wanting to be in the big city where everything is happening and wanting to be somewhere else. Trying to blend in by playing city music rather than country music, the album quickly convinces listeners that the music truly belongs in the country.
“The city is a nice place to visit, but there’s no place like home,” Alan observed. The album is multi-genre; it includes strictly traditional country music as well as jazz and reggae. Heather Harper from Tyler, who won “Artist of the Year,” also met the band.
“Country Soul Living in the City” is available on all streaming platforms and on sheilaandthecaddokats.com.
