Both on and offstage, The Railers are a tight-knit group. The trio—Jonathan, Jordan and Cassandra Lawson—has been tearing up the roadway in their trusty old van, Geraldine, playing 150–200 shows a year for the past few years.
Jonathan and Jordan are brothers, while Jonathan and Cassandra are husband and wife, which makes Jordan and Cassandra in-laws. Family or not, 200 shows a year is a lot of time to spend crammed inside a van together.
In 2015, the band was named to Nash Country Daily’s annual Ones to Watch list—and we’ve been watching them perform ever since. On March 20, with the release of their new single, “11:59 (Central Standard Time),” to country radio, it’s finally time to just listen.
“We’re excited about this song,” said Jonathan to NCD. “We spent a long time looking for the right song that we felt like was a hit for country radio, but also something that creatively we could bring something to the table on. We wrote and wrote and wrote, and we listened to a ton of songs that our friends had written. It was actually on the way back from Missouri one night that ‘11:59’ was a on a CD that a friend had sent over of songs he had written. We listened to it and we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘I think this might be it.’ We listened again, and a few more times, and then we called our producer at midnight and said, ‘You have to hold this song right now, this is gonna be the single. We’ve got to go cut it.’”
“That moment, we believed in the song fully,” added Jordan.
“It’s a fun song,” said Cassandra. “I feel like it’s the perfect time to release it, because it’s been a heavy year for everybody and we just wanted to release something that could bring everyone together, regardless of beliefs.”
Listen to “11:59 (Central Standard Time)” below, and keep an ear out for it on country radio on March 20. The tune is available for purchase on iTunes now.
