By March 2020, Kevin Carducci had spent the better part of a decade leading California honky-tonk band The Easy Leaves from behind his upright bass. Over that time, the group had grown from a buzzy West Coast phenomenon to an international touring and festival act, billed alongside the likes of Billy Joe Shaver, Dwight Yoakam, and Willie Nelson. However, that project had begun to slow down and Carducci was beginning to develop his voice as a solo songwriter and collaborate with new musicians, such as Americana luminary Pokey LaFarge. He had just moved to East Nashville with a big record release and tour planned for the year ahead and was working on a collection of his own songs. The future looked bright.

You can probably guess what happened next. Before the ink could dry on Carducci’s East Nashville lease, a historically destructive tornado ripped through his new neighborhood, rendering his home uninhabitable. Then, a novel pandemic hit US shores, the music business ground to a halt, and his band broke up. So with no house, no band, and no touring to be had, Carducci had no choice but to go back out west. He took a job on a farm and rode out the end of the world between rows of vegetables in Northern California. It was the end of the road for The Easy Leaves, but a new beginning for Kevin Carducci.

Kevin Carducci's long-simmering debut solo album Easy Does It describes his ensuing years-long project of piecing a dream back together. On Easy Does It - out March 20th, 2026 on Fossil Records, the label recently founded by Carducci’s longtime friend and fellow Americana singer-songwriter Margo Cilker - Carducci settles into a new version of his voice, one a little more world-weary and a little more enlightened than the one familiar to Easy Leaves fans. 

Drawing on the hard work and growth undertaken during and since those lost pandemic years, Easy Does It chronicles Carducci’s process of starting over on songs like “Open Up The Honky Tonks”, “Easy Does It”, and “Learning To Crawl”. Carducci also celebrates small victories with a Zen-like optimism on songs like “The Money” and “In My Dreams”. A quintessential California Country record, Easy Does It manages to feel like a breath of fresh air while unapologetically paying homage to the classic Bakersfield Sound. This is because, with his unique talent and perspective as both a 21st century California farmer and seasoned honky-tonk road dog, Carducci sounds completely and utterly comfortable in his own skin.