“If you don’t already know Erin Cassels-Brown, you should. He may just be your new favorite songwriter.” - (Brian Carroll, Redline Roots)

Erin Cassels-Brown doesn’t know how to take a break. In the odd off-hours between stints building houses, installing solar panels and working at a preschool he’s managed to perform over five hundred shows in 18 states since 2017. Building upon the elbow grease-fueled momentum of his EP, Northern Lights Vol. 1, the Winooski, VT-based songwriter finally swings for the fences with his debut album, Dreamin’ On Overdrive.

Dreamin’ On Overdrive didn’t emerge from a straight line. After a strange two year stretch in college he left school to read rock and roll autobiographies, write songs, and drink a few too many Labatt Blues. A whirlwind of odd jobs and local bands landed him with his feet mostly on the ground and a collection of songs that would be the beginning of his writing career. Comprised of life stories derived from “fantasies, hopes and a wispy, unstable resource: human memories”, (Jordan Adams, Seven Days) his unique brand of celestial country music walks the line between the milky way and a county fair. “Precocious lyrics and a grizzled delivery” (#) propelled him from an economically-required tenure as an acoustic-slinging street busker to a “proper band album of full-throated roots-rock - emphasis on the rock.” (Ray Padget, County Tracks)

“Opening track “Classic Records” lays down the gauntlet, his tight backing band injecting energy and muscle as he pushes his voice on the yell-along chorus. It’s a far cry from his former life; few street buskers boast songs someone could conceivably pump a fist to.” (%) “As much as this record succeeds, drives, hits, punches and cuts sonically in so many ways, Cassels-Brown’s ability as a songwriter can’t be praised enough.” (&)

In an era of ever-shortening attention spans and fleeting digital singles, Dreamin’ On Overdrive’s ten songs carry the listener through the spectrum of emotions, harking back to the long-playing LP’s of years past. Cassels-Brown assertively leads a ragtag group of some of New England’s finest musicians. From the undeniable surge of the Greetings from Asbury Park-evoking title track, to the bar tab-burning boot-kicker “No Good Man” and the wistful longings of a heart out of place in “Northeastern Dreamer”, Cassels-Brown only further cements his status as “a master of painting a vivid word picture…with weariness more common to someone who's carried life's burdens for many more years.” (#)

The future’s uncertain, but as always Cassels-Brown will continue to do what he does best: “I know how to go to work, no matter what it is, and I try to take that same approach to my music”, he confides, with quiet confidence brewing. “I hate to let you go, but I’ve got work in the morning.”

& - Brian Carroll, Redline Roots

# - Jordan Adams, Seven Days

% - Ray Padget, County Tracks