As our culture grows increasingly isolated and selfish, Seattle-based roots group Western Centuries believes that the way forward is better together. Call the Captain, the band’s third full-length record, is a cosmic, genre-melding testament to the power of collaboration and humility. Teaming up again with Band of Horses veteran and GRAMMY-nominated producer Bill Reynolds, Call the Captain is rife with topical songwriting, deftly woven into a crazy quilt of country, rock & roll, and classic R&B sounds. Call the Captain’s twelve tracks delve into issues contemporary and timeless, be it the arrogance of the powerful, the search for purpose, or the ever-sorrowful pain of lost love. The band’s three songwriters (Ethan Lawton, Jim Miller, and Cahalen Morrison) question dogmatic authority and institutional thought throughout, with both an earnest, introspective approach as well as brilliantly executed humor and satire. Similarly, the band’s kaleidoscopic sonic choices make it nigh on impossible to pigeonhole the group, adding a subtle undercurrent of subversion to the country music establishment. The core makeup of the band (Lawton, Miller, Morrison, Nokosee Fields, and Thomas Bryan Eaton) are embellished with special guests along the way, including Americana legend Jim Lauderdale and former Stray Birds fiddler Oliver Bates Craven. Western Centuries will have you questioning your deepest assumptions, but don’t be fooled: with Call the Captain, you’ll have a damn good time doing it.