Caleb Young has been singing for most of his life.
However, he originally dreamed of being a professional baseball player.
After that didn’t pan out, he started going into country music and soon realized that he had a voice for it.
The musician, who resides in Monahans, hasn’t looked back.
Young will be performing in front of essentially a home crowd when he takes the stage Friday night at the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo.
The performance starts at around 9 p.m. but Young will be on stage around 10.
While he’s played at other rodeos before, most notably the Houston Rodeo, this will be the first time Young has performed at the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo.
“I’m really excited about it because, outside of the Houston Rodeo, it’s one of the other big rodeos and being locally, where I have a good fan base, I ‘m excited because it’s my first love of rodeo and western heritage and it’s mixed in with the fan base I have out here,” Young said. “It’s the best of both worlds. I get to be in my element. I feel like our show lines up well with the rodeo and dance atmosphere just because we’re a mix between Garth Brooks or George Strait meet Aerosmith. We’ve got the high energy but can break it down and do some two-stepping. It just seems like the rodeo crowds love us.”
He may currently live in Monahans but Young is actually from Anson, having graduated from high school in 2010.
From there, he played college baseball for a couple of years at Lubbock Christian.
However, an injury ended up derailing his baseball career.
“That was my first dream in life, to play professional baseball,” Young said. “Then I tore my throwing shoulder. After that — because they don’t wait on you when you get hurt — I moved to Abilene and finished up my degree at Hardin Simmons. Right after I graduated, the oil field sucked me in. So about 11 years ago, that’s what brought me out to the Permian Basin and I’ve been here ever since.”
While he had been singing throughout his life, Young was afraid of getting rejection letters so he kept from putting himself in the public.
That all changed when he became good friends with another musician in Monahans, Austin Grigry.
“I think he just recognized my gift and helped introduce me to the world of entertainment and getting that opportunity,” Young said.
Soon, the rest would become history.
His musical career would take off. He soon became part of a group, called the Caleb Young Band in 2018 which included bassist Will Doroteo, drummer Lilo Hernandez and Timmy Neves on pedal steel.
“This past year, I’m doing it as much as I can, full-time,” Young said. “It’s something I would never trade. I feel like sometimes life or the lord gives you a second opportunity and a dream. It’s been pretty neat to watch it unfold.”
However, the Caleb Young Band is no more as the other members would go their separate ways and Young re-branded it to just himself.
“I did that for one of two reasons,” Young said. “One because at this point Lilo is the only original band member left and everyone else are hired employees. And number two, the marketing and all that stuff when it comes to the music industry, it’s just easier to promote me. That comes down to just group photos and everything else. I re-branded last year. It’s just me and a bunch of hired guns. Guys who have been playing with me over the years.”
He continues to focus on music full-time.
Young performed at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2020 and last year. He aims to be back at the Houston Rodeo this year in March.
“I was one of the last acts that got to perform in 2020,” Young said. “That’s been a big staple of the last three years. It’s always been a huge deal to play there. I hope that’ll continue to open doors for me. I’ll be playing there again this year for three days straight in March so I get to go back. The SandHills might be the first of a few rodeos that I play at this year.”
Growing up, Young said he would listen to whatever was on the radio which was usually a country music station or classic rock which is what helped mold the two styles together for him.
“I grew up on it and I feel like naturally I have a voice that fits well with the genre,” Young said. “During wheat harvest or vaccinating cattle or plumbing with my dad, we always had good old prime country on the radio because that’s what was playing. We also had 80s or 90s classic rock also on the radio so I’m a blend of those two things because I grew up in the middle of it. I have an appreciation of those two genres. I feel like my voice allows me to reflect that. The natural tone, I think I have somewhat of a classic sound in my voice. It’s all lined up very well. Coming from a ranching and cowboy background, that’s what you listened to.”
For Young, the thing he loves the most about the direction he’s trying to take his career to is that it allows him to put his stories out there.
“One thing I don’t think people have given enough credit is that rap and country are more similar than people think,” Young said. “They’re both trying to tell a story and relay their heartache or addiction. … We’re looking at getting two or three more songs out there and I’m excited about that because those are my stories.”
Despite his rebrand over the past year, Young says his schedule has been more busy than it was before.
“I feel like I’ve gotten busier,” Young said. “2022 was a busy year. I’m just taking it all in moderation. I’m trying not to slow down anymore. The biggest part about that is chasing after it full-time but also having hired guns that are able to commit to it. I don’t have as many snags anymore with people floating around day jobs. It allows you to pursue it and not worry about people who have other commitments.”
Some of the songs he’s done over the years include “Hammer Down” from the EP “Down in Flames.”
That EP also included it’s title “Down in Flames” and “Sounds the Same.”
“’Hammer Down’ was a song written by a buddy in Anson,” Young said. “He pitched the idea a few years ago and we just took his idea and ran with it. I feel like that EP is pretty neat because it allows everyone to hear different tidbits of the different songs of country on it. Because ‘Sounds the Same’ has an old school sound and then you have ‘Down in Flames’ which is more of an 80s ballad. Then you have modern Texas country meets red dirt with ‘Last Call.’ I’m excited to continue on with that and show people who Caleb is without compromising.”
However, he’s working on new projects that he hopes to release later this year.
“I’ve got a song called ‘Running’ that I plan on releasing in a couple of months,” Young said. “Maybe four or five months from now, I have a little upbeat song that I just wrote a month ago that’s kind of a flip of ‘I can still make Cheyenne’ by George Strait that’s called ‘Buckler of the Bride.’ It’s a flip of the narrative of a guy chasing his dreams and wondering if his girlfriend is committed to him being on the road, chasing his rodeo dreams. It’s something that I’m looking forward to releasing this summer. It’s called ‘Buckler of the Bride.’ I’m hoping that 2023 is more about getting my heart out on pieces of paper.”
For more information on Young and his music, go to https://www.calebyoung.com/.
