Cole Goodwin Shares New EP, ‘Howdy,’ Rooted in Traditional Country Sounds and Authentic Storytelling
“I’m super proud of it and super excited for everybody to hear all of them and to play them on the road,” Goodwin shared.
Cole Goodwin; Photo Provided
Today, Cole Goodwin is rolling out his Howdy EP, a project rooted in classic country influences and inspired by the traditional sounds of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Filled with authentic storytelling and timeless vocals, the EP reflects Goodwin’s commitment to keeping the heart of country music alive.
Born and raised in Pooler, Georgia, Goodwin has never wavered from the era that shaped his musical taste, often drawing inspiration from artists like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Hank Jr. and Ronnie Milsap. Those influences run deep throughout the EP, which includes tracks “Howdy,” “Girl That’s How,” “Where She’s Coming From” and “Keep On Rainin’.”
“I mean, if you think about it, it worked so good and it still works 30, 40 years later and everybody still loves it. And I think that there’s something to be said about that,” Goodwin said of his effort to tap into the nostalgic country sound. “So anytime I can dive into that and try to tap into get as close as I can get to something that feels like that or makes somebody else feel like that, how it makes me feel when I hear those great old songs, that’s what I want to do.”
The title track, “Howdy” has already been making waves across live audiences and as of this week, it also made a strong impact at country radio, earning 56 first-week adds.
“Yeah, that’s pretty mind-blowing to me and I’m super excited about it,” he told Country Now, reflecting on the support behind the single.
Goodwin serves as a co-writer on two of the four tracks on the new project. Whether he had a hand in bringing them to life or was lucky enough to cut them as his own, he said the collection of songs came together naturally. He admits while each song brings something different to the table, both sonically and lyrically, they all relate to his life in some way.
“Obviously they’re all country, but I think most importantly, they’re all me and songs that I connect to and that I think is super great and special. And so yeah, they’re sonically maybe all a little bit different, but they’re all authentic and all genuine and me. I’m super proud of it and super excited for everybody to hear all of them and to play them on the road,” he shared honestly.
Fans have already become familiar with the charming and humorous story behind “Howdy,” as Goodwin describes a simple moment in a bar between two strangers that turns into a fun, feel-good lesson about what could come from taking a shot and seeing where the night goes. The track was penned by four of his good friends, Justin dukes, Davis Loose, Carson Peters and Ethan Phillips.
“They were gracious enough to let me cut it. One of them sent it to me or played it for me about a year and a half ago, I guess. And I was like, ‘wow man, send me that please and don’t send that to anybody else.’ And yeah, I just kept listening to it and I thought it was such a great song…I tell them, ‘it’s like, y’all wrote this for me’ because language wise, attitude wise, it’s just all stuff that I would say. And it’s very much, I think, my personality. And yeah, I just really, really connected with it and thought that it was an incredible song and I wanted to sing it.”
He leans even further into the idea of falling in love on “Girl That’s How,” where a country guy wants to show the woman he cares about what life with him is really like by taking her around his small hometown, meeting his family and enjoying the simple things in life that matter most to him. It shows a softer, more romantic side of Goodwin and serves as a reminder that old-school chivalry might not be dead after all.
Second to last on the EP is the unreleased track “Keep On Rainin’,” which flips the idea of the familiar “Rain, Rain, Go Away” saying on its head. What sounds like it could be a sad song instead turns into an upbeat, high-energy “barn burner,” as Goodwin puts it, that finds him asking for the rain to stick around instead of wishing it would go away.
“Honestly, until after the fact, I didn’t even really realize that I’d done that in the room that day and maybe that’s why it felt familiar, but in the room, I wasn’t really thinking, let’s do the ‘Rain, Rain Go Away’ thing until after. And I was like, wait a minute, we actually did do that,” he said, thinking back to the writing session with Jessi Alexander and Jonathan Singleton.
Then the collection takes a sharp turn to showcase a more somber side of heartbreak as it comes to close with the emotional ballad, “Where She’s Coming From,” which digs into the painful realization that a relationship has run its course and the flame has burned all the way out.