CAITLIN MAE & ZOEE

Play Lucky Money Live!

Monday June 12, 2023

@ Virgin Hotel’s Commons Club in Nashville, TN

(Review By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Lucky Money Live, the weekly songwriter showcase of Lucky Money Entertainment, occupies their space on the famed Music Row at the corner of Music Square West and Division Street at the Virgin Hotel’s Commons Club with a Monday night offering that combines the best emerging songwriting talent with several established writers, giving perfect balance to what has become a hotspot place to be.

Not even 24 hours after the final note was played on this year’s CMA Fest, Lucky Money returned to the Commons Club with a lineup of must-see talent, which featured international flavor during the first round of the night with the soon to be Nashvillian, UK singer-songwriter Caitlin Mae playing alongside the always incredible Aussie native Zoee.

“I’m going to kick off tonight with a song I wrote about a guy who wanted to marry me on the first date,” cringingly said Caitlin Mae with a pause. “I didn’t even know it was a date…I thought it was just coffee!” she innocently told with a shrug as she opened with “In My Defense,” sliding the hushed tone of her vocal through the moodiness of the verses before striking the powerful heights of her register as she sang an unapologetic list of her reasons for not being able to give him what we wanted through the chorus.

“This one is kind of inspired by that same guy that I just told you about, and it’s about how sometimes you don’t need a rebound to get over someone,” Caitlin advised as she poured pure emotion into the self-assured lyric of “Rebound,” taking ownership of easily moving on from him while flexing her impressive vocal to hold strong notes that elicited cheers from the crowd.

Continuing to open her diary of relationship struggles with “Remember Me,” Caitlin transparently shared her personal story of losing a several year friendship with someone who was more like a brother to her when he wanted to be something much more than that, softening the pace with a waltz like tempo that allowed her voice to float on top the melody as she heart tugged her way through her goodbye letter to him, wishing him all the best with a hopeful glimmer that he’d at least remember her and the friendship they once had.

Popping the catchy, up-tempo strum of guitar on “Run,” she instantly grabbed the crowd’s attention as she drove through the lessons learned lyric that saw her facing the mirror to admit that she while she should have just run, so be it….now embracing the silver lining when she confessed that she had to get lost to find her way.

“This was the very first song I wrote when I learned to play guitar during the lockdown,” told Caitlin as she closed her part of the round with recent single “Fiona,” leaving a lasting impression on the crowd as she pumped her voice over the addictive strum, bouncing into the power mood of the chorus as she used fairy tale imagery to poetically weave together her own struggled filled tale while keeping heavy focus on the positives that are tucked underneath it.

“This one just #1 in Australia,” excitedly shared Zoee while the catchy lick of “Dirty Blonde” radiated the venue as she aptly introduced herself to the audience through the autobiographical song, tilting her vocals into unbridled sass as she moved through lyrics that spelled out a bold warning to someone looking to date her, giving them perfect insight as to what they can expect from her self-confident self.

“I was gonna bring a banjo with me tonight, but was inspired by that Mark Twain quote,” Zoee told with a wink to her personality… “a gentleman is someone who knows how to play banjo and doesn’t,” quoting with a laugh as she moved into “History” and allowed the purely soft touches of her voice to wrap perfectly into the midtempo melody and endearing lyric that sees her crushing turning toward falling, laying it all out on the line when she asked, “Do you wanna make history with me?”

“Coastline Time,” her brand new single, held tight to a summery flared melody that continually built through the verses, giving plenty of room for her vocal to walk its range as she expertly hushed the chorus only to then lift her voice elegantly at very precise moments to emphasize specific words as she painted the carefree feeling that only an escape to a beach can provide.

Slowing things down with what she said to be one of her absolute favorites, “Supernova,” Zoee intriguingly walked her voice alongside the stellar chord progression, raising it note by note to strike each end line as she fully embraced the unexplainable feelings of completely letting go and allowing yourself to fall.

Masterfully bookending her set with the autobiographical “Whatever It Takes,” she threw open her photo album to invite us straight into her life and showcase all that it took to eventually land her in Nashville chasing her music dreams, which in many ways came across like a big sister moment that saw her encouragingly using her story to speak straight to Caitlin and her impending move to Nashville next month.

While both Caitlin and Zoee used their individual moments in the spotlight to uniquely shine through their honest brand of style that pulled together pop ideals and country sensibilities, their swapping of personal stories shared the excitement of moving to Nashville, displaying a tremendous comradery between the two singer-songwriters that transcended over the crowd and pulled them deeper into each song as the two made them feel every bit as part of each heartfelt moment.

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