Album Notes

A Chris Cates original, inspired by a life in the Carolinas. From the mountain to the beach.

*** CLICK THE SONGS DOWN ON THE LEFT TO SAMPLE EVERY SONG ***

Chris Cates celebrates life in the Carolina's with songs like "Carolina Wind", "Beach Beat" and "Linville Caverns. Ballads like "Restless Love" and "Outer Banks" also tell great love stories that have a classic appeal that anyone can relate to no matter where you are from.

"Carolina Songs" is a soulful journey into the HEART of a native Carolinian.

Kind of like driving down I-85 with the windows rolled down and the radio turned up.

It's a little bit rock a little bit country, jazz, blues etc. Featuring Chris Cates & the Master Plan.


••A Recent review by Alli Marshall of the Mountain Xpress••

Though written, produced and recorded at Asheville’s Mealtime Brown Studios, Carolina Songs owes a debt to the state’s coasts as well its peaks.

Tracks like “Outer Banks,” “Slow Beach Music” and “Beach Beat” are obvious in their geographic loyalties.
But Cates, a sentimental and romantic songwriter in the tradition of James Taylor, pays equal homage to mountain locales on the swinging, horn-soaked “Boogie in the Mountains” ("It’s just the Smoky Mountain trees and lots of farmer’s tans...") and the smooth jazz of “Linville Caverns” ("Go down to where there is no sound except the water falling on our head...").

Carolina Songs is a feel-good mix of dance tempos (funk, folk rock, shag) and easy, vacation-mood lyrics a la Jimmy Buffet.
Much of Cates’ inspiration can be traced to adolescent adventures and the places these occurred, but even a recent Carolina transplant could relate to this album’s physical and emotional landscape. - Alli Marshall




Written & produced by Chris Cates in Asheville, NC

For lots more info check out chriscates.com