SALT LAKE CITY — Musicians Colbie Caillat and Jason Reeves both hate talking on the phone, and yet, that’s how the two met.
“Imagine the shyest people on Earth trying to talk to each other on the phone,” Reeves said in a recent phone interview. “That might be a clear picture.”
Though their friendship had a rough beginning, the two quickly became close.
“It’s been about 14 years that we’ve been friends and (been) writing songs together,” Caillat said. “It was really special for both of us because … we were each others’ first collaborators. (We were) learning from each other and teaching each other how to write and communicate in songwriting. It was really a special time.”
That time together resulted in the pair co-writing Caillat’s first album, “Coco.”
“We kind of came up with a style together,” Reeves said. “I think the reason it worked out is because we are different from each other in certain ways, but it just felt like we were on the same page right away.”
Now, Reeves and Caillat’s styles are melding again. The pair, along with Caillat’s fiancé Justin Young and Reeves’ wife Nelly Joy, have formed a new band called Gone West. They’ll be at Park City’s Eccles Center on Aug. 16 playing music from their new band, along with tunes from their solo careers.
A new opportunity
When Caillat and Reeves first starting writing together, their days were packed with songwriting — in fact, that’s practically all they did for months.
“If we weren’t writing a song from scratch in the room together, we were individually starting an idea and then emailing it to the other person, and then the other person would help finish writing the song,” Caillat said. “One of us would have a melody or a lyric idea and we would just keep building on it from there.”
A few years later, in 2009, Reeves moved to Nashville, but that didn’t end his and Caillat’s special partnership.
“I would go out and visit ... and, Jason and I would write with … all these amazing writers and I got to do some really cool country collaborations,” Caillat said.
In 2018, Caillat also moved to Nashville with Young. When she moved, Caillat was in the middle of a break in her career. “During that time, we were craving living somewhere new. I had never lived out of California,” Caillat said.
That break turned out to be a perfect opportunity for Caillat, Young, Reeves and Joy.
“I just wanted to try something new,” Caillat said. She recorded an album — “The Malibu Sessions” — with Reeves, Young and Joy, and the four toured together.
“We had a blast,” Caillat continued. “When we got back to Nashville, we all joked about starting a band together. … It all just naturally progressed, step by step. And it was two years ago (that) we wrote our first song for this band, and it kept going.”
Like the rest of this project, naming the band was a group effort.
“We were just talking about how we’re all from Western Tennessee, and (when) we go back home to visit family, that’s always going west,” Caillat explained. “I forget how it exactly came about, but when we said ‘gone West’ — whoever said it — we were all like, ‘That’s it. We love it.’”
Gone West on tour
For people like Caillat and Reeves, who are shy about talking on the phone, you’d think that performing for big audiences would be difficult, but they’ve both gotten used to it.
“I still have stage fright,” Caillat said. “But I’ve become more capable of controlling it and I’ve learned to enjoy the live performance aspects.”
“I think (I’m) definitely different on stage,” Reeve added. “Somehow, I’m not shy.”
While performing live can be difficult no matter what the situation, performing with a band is a much different experience than Caillat’s previous solo career.
“You just get to have more fun together and share the success and the hard times with each other,” she said. “Getting to do it with friends and people I’ve worked with for so long seemed like the best fit.”
Spending time in a band forces people to get to know each other well, but that closeness has caused problems in some bands’ relationships. Gone West is made of two couples, which makes band dynamics interesting at times, but in their case, the positives outweigh the negatives.
“The fact that we all need to be together on the road all the time creates way less problems than if all of us were separate all the time,” Reeves said. “For me, the hardest part of being on the road is leaving everybody behind. It’s really difficult to maintain a relationship when you’re never together.”
“It wasn’t like we accidentally started a band with our significant others,” Caillat added. “We were all doing music, and we all met each other and fell in love through working together. We feel lucky that we get to see the world together and go through these experiences together.”
Bringing the band back to Utah
Gone West’s poppy country vibe keeps listeners on their toes, since the members switch off who sings and plays what instrument.
“We all sing, and we all play guitar at some point,” Reeves said. “It’s kind of just a matter of when and how we all trade off singing.”
“The record is cool because every song is different and each of us take the lead on different songs,” Caillat said. “Me and Justin are on the single, and then me and Jason have a duet on the record, and Jason and Justin sing lead on a couple songs together, which is really cool. So it just keeps it interesting for the listener and for us.”
Playing in Utah will be something of a homecoming for the Nashville-based group. Utah was one of the first places Gone West toured together, performing in 2016 at the Eccles Center to a sold-out performance before the group was even officially formed.
“We’ve, as a band, played two shows (in Utah),” Caillat said. “And … we all truly thought, when we got to Utah, it was the best audience. They were just so happy and so excited to be there, and so genuine and kind.”
“And not only that,” Reeves added, “but I love all of the national parks. Last summer, I went to Zion and had such an incredible time. There’s just so many different kinds of beauty in Utah and … the fans are so good. It’s fun to be here.”
If you go …
What: Gone West featuring Colbie Caillat
When: Friday, Aug. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Where: George S. & Dolores Dore Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City
How much: $49-$99
Phone: 435-655-3114