RIYL: Frank Sinatra, Clay Aiken, Harry Connick, Jr.

Funny man Rodney Carrington has been making a living with his comedy for several years now, and music has been a focal point of his show. But Carrington, who has been a regular in the Nashville songwriting community, kept hearing from fans that he had such a nice voice, that he should at some point make a serious record, not just funny, to showcase that voice. Well, Carrington has done that with Make It Christmas, and in the vein of classic crooners like Frank Sinatra but with a modern twist, he’s done it extremely well. In fact, there is no way to tell whether or not Carrington is anything but a professional singer after listening. He even wrote one of the tracks, the swinging (and totally awesome) “The Presents Under the Tree (Better Be for Me).” There are also classics like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland” woven in with songs that have a Nashville flavor and songwriter credits like “Mary Did You Know” and “Camouflage and Christmas Lights.” But regardless of who wrote what or what songs Carrington chose for this release, we’re going to steal a line from “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson: “Dude can really sing!” Easily the most pleasant surprise of this holiday season, and maybe the start of a nice second career for Carrington. (Capitol Nashville 2009)

Rodney Carrington MySpace Page

RIYL: Vince Gill, Kenny Chesney, Train

That cha-ching sound you just heard was the royalty cash register for another mainstream pop/rock songwriter, as a country music artist has not just cut a song by the band Train, but made it the title track for his MCA Nashville debut. The artist is David Nail, and while Nail has endured ups and downs and at least one failed move to Nashville, the story has a happy ending, or at least a happy middle upon the release of I’m About to Come Alive, which might also be symbolic for the young artist. Nail has co-written about half the material here, and it might be curious that he’d go with a full blown cover song as his title track, but if you follow Train at all, you know it’s one of their best and most heartfelt songs. And it comes a couple years after Gary Allan had success with Vertical Horizon’s “Best I Ever Had.” But back to Nail, because he and producer Frank Liddell have managed to put a set of tunes together that is as good or better than anything Nashville has produced in the past decade. And the same can be said for Nail’s powerful vocal ability. Of course the title track is stellar, but there are some other beauties on here, especially “Red Light” and the Garth Brooks-ish “Looking for a Good Time,” the latter of which features some pretty guitar work. (MCA Nashville)

David Nail MySpace page

It’s no secret that most of the music coming out of Nashville’s Music Row is based on formula – a lot of the same songwriters and producers are making the records and making it difficult to distinguish one artist from another. You might see Brad Paisley or Kenny Chesney or Billy Currington on TV or walking down the street in Nashville and immediately know who they are, but that doesn’t mean the casual fan can pick their voice out on the radio. That’s because Nashville has auto-tuned everyone into sounding the same – the same vocal tone, same twang, and in most cases, the same freaking songs. Dierks Bentley falls into that category, and on his latest, and fourth album, Feel That Fire, Bentley has co-written a bland bunch of songs that he seems to almost be going through the motions with. Tracks like “Sideways” and “Little Heartwrecker” will make you tap your feet but you’re not going to remember them five minutes afterward. A pretty duet with Patty Griffin, “Beautiful World,” almost saves the album, but while the likes of “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” and “I Can’t Forget Her” are pleasant enough, there are literally thousands of better songs in this formulaic genre alone. Country music surely isn’t going to make any new fans this way. (LABEL: Capitol Nashville)

Dierks Bentley MySpace Page

George Strait has one of the purest, most recognizable voices in a genre not known for that type of clarity, and he’s one of those singers who likely doesn’t need much help (read: pitch correction) in the studio. If you’re a fan of Strait or of country music in general, you’re going to love this guy’s straight-ahead, twangy approach to classic Christmas fare, aptly titled Classic Christmas. For the rest of you, you may be left with the feeling that these takes are a bit vanilla and even a tad mundane. As holiday albums go, though, you sure could do a lot worse. After all, Mr. Strait is a living legend at this point, and his voice alone is reason to pick this one up. Standout tracks are “We Three Kings” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” (MCA Nashville)

George Strait MySpace Page

Every once in a while, some country artist and/or songwriter takes a chance on a song that doesn’t sound like everything else they release. Jimmy Wayne’s “Do You Believe Me Now?” the title track to his latest, and second album, is that song – essentially a great pop song sung with a twangy vocal and a lyrical theme that is left of center (guy sees the way other guy is looking at his girl, and fast-forwards to when he is the odd man out and the other guy has his girl now). Well, that, and the track is as catchy as anything you’ll ever hear. Read his bio, and you won’t help but feel for the guy, who once saw his stepfather shoot (and paralyze) his stepbrother’s wife and then attempt to kill Jimmy too when he was 15. But mostly this is a new country artist (who co-writes most of his material) armed with a solid album of hooky songs that reflect the variety of music his foster parents listened to – Hall & Oates, Alan Jackson, Iron Maiden among them. Other standouts are the breezy “I Will” and sultry semi-ballad “One on One.” With the title track recently hitting #1 on the country charts, the sky is the limit for Jimmy Wayne, and gives hope to some of the lesser-known but promising songwriting talent on Music Row. (Valory Music Co.)

Jimmy Wayne MySpace Page

The premise of Billy Currington’s latest, Little Bit of Everything, is supposed to symbolize the singer and songwriter’s many musical influences, which include hints of R&B and classic rock. Well, okay, but at the end of the day this is a country record through and through. Currington is a very good songwriter, and one of those rare Nashville acts who began as a writer and rode that talent to a record deal. But as a singer, he’s pretty average and sounds like every Tom, Dick, Chesney and Paisley. But let’s face it – the people buying country music records don’t care about the vocals delivering them. They only care about the songs, and Currington has some good ones. The standouts here are the opening warm weather anthem “Swimmin’ in Sunshine,” the absolutely stunning ballad “Walk On,” and the Jimmy Buffet-flavored “I Shall Return.” And while some of these tracks border on mediocre, Currington is for the most part better than his peers. Maybe that’s because his Georgia roots make it all seem so natural, or maybe it’s because he’s just that talented. (Mercury)

Billy Currington MySpace Page

Lee Ann Womack has been around for a while on the country radio scene, and while we can poke holes in the genre all day long, we can’t poke anything at someone who has a really good voice and who picks good songs to record. A lot of the music coming out of Music Row these days is absolute schlock, but Womack and her team have done a nice job of finding good material that suits her as an artist on her latest album, Call Me Crazy. In fact, if you take the twang out of Womack’s voice, a lot of the songs more closely resemble timeless country/pop along the lines of Crystal Gayle or Linda Ronstadt, especially on the likes of “Either Way” or “I Found It in You.” But she also has a Dolly Parton-ish throwback thing going on, particularly on lead single “Last Call,” “Solitary Thinkin’” or “The Bees.” Producer Tony Brown adds some nice touches and some of George Strait’s band on Call Me Crazy, and while there are no magical tracks such as Lee Ann’s smash “I Hope You Dance,” this is a more complete collection of good country music. (MCA)

Lee Ann Womack MySpace Page

Aside from the pop/punk genre, there really isn’t a more tired style of music than “new country,” a.k.a. the kind of country music that is coming out of Nashville’s Music Row these days, which is more like classic pop with steel guitars, and lyrics that try to make you remember your youth or complain about your lot in life today. This is opposed to the country music of your parents and grandparents, which wasn’t nearly as forced or made to fit into a pattern musically or lyrically. So anyone with a musical brain is likely going to be insulted if someone tries to convince them to like this stuff. Enter Now That’s What I Call Country, a compilation of some of the biggest chart-toppers of the past year or so. For fans of new country, it’s not really any different than what’s been beaten to death on your favorite radio station. For the rest of us, it’s mostly the same bland fare that gives us headaches—the nasally Carrie Underwood (“All-American Girl”), Lady Antebellum’s “Love Don’t Live Here;” a song with the same chord progression and melody as about 300 other songs you’ve heard in this genre alone. Ditto for Brad Paisley’s “Letter To Me” and Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink” — seriously, in any other genre those two guys would be bagging groceries. We’d be remiss, of course, if we didn’t point out some of the bright spots here, such as Keith Urban, who actually makes his songs compelling on “Everybody” (maybe it’s because he can actually sing); and George Strait’s “I Saw God Today,” a stunning number about the beauty of becoming a father that any parent can relate to. At some point, someone is going to step in and shake this genre up, but not until advertisers stop ruling terrestrial radio. (LABEL: UMG Recordings)

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