Clay Street Unit Hits the Gas With Soul-Stirring New Single “Drive”
- All Country News
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
At four minutes long, Clay Street Unit’s new single “Drive” doesn’t ask much of your time, but it rewards every second of it.
The Denver-based breakout group kicks off the year by hitting the gas on a song that feels both forward-looking and deeply rooted, a love story told at highway speed where ambition and affection try to share the same lane. Built around a nimble, commanding mandolin line, “Drive” lives at the crossroads of bluegrass precision and country heart, unfolding with the kind of patient momentum that invites you to lean in rather than skip ahead.
“Drive” is a love song, but not the kind that pretends romance exists in a vacuum. Instead, it wrestles with the tension between chasing dreams and holding onto the person riding shotgun a familiar push and pull made vivid through Clay Street Unit’s sharp, lived-in songwriting. There’s motion in every bar, a sense that something meaningful is unfolding just beyond the windshield.
That sense of movement is central to who Clay Street Unit is. Hailing from Denver, Colorado, the band blends the high-altitude Newgrass spirit of the Rocky Mountains with the storytelling traditions of Appalachian country-folk. The result is a modern, amplified take on American roots music that refuses to sit still. Drums push where purists might not expect them, melodies stretch beyond genre borders, and the band’s chemistry honed over countless shared nights on stage keeps everything grounded.
Mandolinist Scottie Bolin leads the charge with crisp, confident playing, supported by the locked-in foundation of bassist Jack Kotarba and drummer Brendan Lamb. Banjo player Jack Cline and pedal steel guitarist Brad Larrison add texture and emotional depth, while singer, guitarist, and ringleader Sam Walker steers the song with a voice that sounds equal parts restless and resolute. Together, they don’t simply nod to their influences, they reshape them, pulling traditional sounds into a modern frame without sanding off their edges.
“Drive” feels like a mission statement disguised as a love song: forward motion, honest emotion, and a band unafraid to blur lines between genres, geographies, and expectations. It’s an early-year release that lands with quiet confidence, signaling that Clay Street Unit isn’t just passing through they’re building something worth following.
Four minutes well worth your time. And if “Drive” is any indication, Clay Street Unit is a name you’ll want to remember long after the road stretches on. This is bluegrass with a backbone.
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