I must admit that I was unfamiliar with Baltimore troubadour, Caleb Stine, until I happened upon a post on slowcoustic, but, now, he’s my greatest find of the year. His fifth album, I Wasn’t Built for a Life Like This, is bare, intimate, simple and simply amazing! I was roped in by Caleb’s superb songwriting and stripped-down acoustic guitar. There is just something so beautiful and warm about these straightforward and candid confessionals about life on the road, substance abuse, sadness and loneliness. But, regardless of how bad things might have been or seemed, he wouldn’t have lived it any other way — doing what he loves and what he should.
His honest stories and thoughtful poetry places Caleb among some of the best songwriters of this time and could possibly make him the 21st Century’s Townes Van Zandt. And, despite the titles of his title track, and other standouts like “My Service Isn’t Needed Anymore” and “Last Curtain Call,” his services are most certainly needed and there isn’t any denying that he was built for a life like this.
— April Wolfe @Common Folk Music
