2022 was a HUGE year for Charles Wesley Godwin.
His fan base grew tremendously over the past year as his spectacular 2021 record How the Mighty Fall gained traction, he made several high profile festival appearances, and of course, as he toured the nation in support of Zach Bryan. Many of us have known it for years now, but CWG and his backing band the Allegheny High proved to an increasingly larger audience all throughout 2022 that he is one of the best in the business.
And luckily for all of us, it seems as if he is already carrying that momentum into 2023.
In a brief post made to his Instagram recently, Godwin let his fans in on some pretty big news.
“Started album number 3 today! I cannot wait for y’all to hear it. Let’s Go!”
To my knowledge, a timeframe for the album’s release has not been made public quite yet, but considering Godwin didn’t release any music in 2022, and he is announcing this early in the year that he has started on his next album, the chances seem pretty high that we will get an album by the end of the year.
Although Godwin hasn’t released any music of his own since How the Mighty Fall, he was featured on several songs that were released throughout 2022. Most notably, Godwin is featured alongside Zach Bryan on “Jamie,” as well as on fellow Appalachia artist Nicholas Jamerson’s “Peace Mountain.”
The lack of releases in 2022 obviously does not mean that Godwin has not been writing, though. Since he last released music in 2021, he has teased plenty of new music through YouTube and social media relatively consistently.
So, out of pure speculation, here are some of my favorite Charles Wesley Godwin tunes that have not been officially released to streaming platforms yet.
“Dance in the Rain”
“Skyline Blues”
“Headwaters”
“Lost Without You”
“John Paul”
“Family Ties”
Will any of these make the upcoming album? Only time will tell, but I think there is probably a solid chance some of these get officially released.
Either way, if his first two albums are any indication, this upcoming project from CWG is sure to be one of the best albums of the year.
For anyone who may not be familiar with much of Charles Wesley Godwin’s existing catalog yet, here are five of my favorite songs from his first two albums. If those unreleased songs didn’t quite win you over, these sure will.
“Coal Country” – Seneca (2019)
“Cranes of Potter” – How the Mighty Fall (2021)
“Jesse” – How the Mighty Fall (2021)
“Seneca Creek” – Seneca (2019)
“Strong” – How the Mighty Fall (2021)
Well there ya have it!
Keep on listening to Charles Wesley Godwin, and check him out on tour this year too, because I have a feeling that he could blow up following the release of this next album.
And hopefully that happens soon.
