B-Side Guys

Denver-based Isaac Martinez wrote “Cedar Road” at fifteen on his therapist’s advice, and the song carries that specific quality of teenage insight processed through adult production values. Working with Grammy winner Jerry Ordonez, Martinez transforms therapeutic homework into meditation on how family distance creates its own temporal distortions.

The track operates around the central image of riding down Cedar Road while sleeping “up front”—a detail that suggests passenger status even in positions of apparent control. Martinez’s lyrics examine how missing family creates paradoxical relationship with safety, treating security as luxury rather than necessity through his repeated observation that “safety is a want.”

His background as a competitive chess player, influenced by his best-selling chess author mother, informs the song’s strategic approach to emotional material. Martinez presents feelings with the same careful consideration he might apply to board positions, examining options without rushing toward resolution. The production benefits from this measured approach, creating space for both vulnerability and calculation.

The transition from aliases to his “government name” reflects broader commitment to authenticity that serves this material well. Martinez’s close-miked vocals, supported by Ordonez’s nuanced production, create intimacy that honors both the fifteen-year-old who wrote these words and the adult who chose to record them as country music.

“Cedar Road” succeeds because Martinez treats adolescent pain as legitimate source material rather than embarrassing artifact. His decision to revisit therapeutic writing as professional recording suggests an artist who understands that some insights don’t require updating—they simply need better presentation. The result feels both deeply personal and carefully universal.