For Godwin, it's about the "Family Ties"

Goddwin demo'ed the 19 songs that would become "Family Ties" on a Tascam 4-track (thanks to his love for Bruce Springsteen's seminal "Nebraska") and then recorded them at Echo Mountain in Asheville N.C., before he signed a record deal. Despite working with his long-time band, the Allegheny High, and long-time producer, Allegheny High guitarist Al Torrence, the road to Family Ties was not always a smooth one.

For a while there, Godwin was in something of a funk. A typically prolific writer, Godwin found himself in a state of stasis last year "I had to get back to the basics," said the West Virginia native. "I decided I was going to write about my life and my family. It's where my heart was guiding me: to be super personal and dig right into the weeds of my life."

"All it was was just a matter of time and continued grinding," Godwin said.

"To me, the live show has been the great equalizer," Godwin said. "After COVID, we went out there and just played our asses off everywhere all the time, every week. The tour never stopped. And we just built it ear by ear. We were just making this thing grow organically by putting on such a good show with so much heart. Eventually, I got momentum back on my side and just kept on going."

Godwin has been headlining his own shows along with opening for his friend and musical compadre Zach Bryan. "My shows will range from 18-year-olds to 80-year-olds," Godwin said. "That's a pretty unique thing."

Godwin and the Allegheny High will head back out on the road this month as openers on Bryan's arena tour, then begin their own headlining trek in September. Many of Godwin's headline dates are already sold out, and many more will sell out soon. He'll headline Gruene Hall in Texas for the first time in October.

"There's a lot more people at my shows and they're a lot more excited than ever before," Godwin says with a sense of satisfaction. "I don't feel like a fish out of water anymore. I had fun when it was just 100 people back in 2021. Now that it's 10 or 20 times that, it's just even better."

The track list is:
1."Tell the Babies I Love Them (Overture)"(Charles Wesley Godwin)
2. "Family Ties" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
3. "Miner Imperfections" (Charles Wesley Godwin, Zach McCord)
4. "The Flood" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
5. "All Again" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
6. "Gabriel" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
7. "Dance in Rain" (Charles Wesley Godwin, Zach McCord)
8. "Another Leaf" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
9. "That Time Again" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
10. "Skyline Blues" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
11. "West of Lonesome" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
12. "Headwaters" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
13. "10-38" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
14. "Two Weeks Gone" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
15. "Soul Like Mine" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
16. "Willing and Able" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
17. "Cue Country Roads" (Charles Wesley Godwin)
18. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Taffy Nivert Danoff, William Danoff, John Denver)
19. "By Your Side (Underture)" (Charles Wesley Godwin)