Category: Country (Page 13 of 33)

Jimmy Wayne: Do You Believe Me Now?

November 28, 2008 / Mike Farley

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.)

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Cosmic American Derelicts: Songs from the Homestead

November 25, 2008 / Captain Capm

This electric/acoustic bluegrass boogie band does an amicable job of throwing up some dust on their new nine-track release. “Sleepwalking Killer” gets things off to a good start with lickety-split rhythms, plenty of twanging guitars and a banjo thrown in for good measure. “Same Old” follows almost the same exact formula, except the acoustic guitars take front and center, and the drum sticks are given away for brushes, but the vibe is completely the same. “Barbed Wire Bed” finally steeps itself into rustic bluegrass Americana and ditches the electric guitars altogether, showing off the pure, raw talents of this group. Other tracks that try for the more pop country format, like “Dollar Bill Blues” don’t suit the band as well. Ditto that for the corny clichéd lyrical pursuits of “Drink You off My Mind.” And, well, the closing “Rocktopus” really doesn’t fit at all with the rest of the album. Too bad, because the first half of this disc really is good. When these guys stray from the bluegrass trappings, though, they lose it all over the place.(self-released)

Cosmic American Derelicts MySpace page

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Two Cow Garage: Speaking in Cursive

November 21, 2008 / Michael Fortes

“It was arrogant to think from the start / You were the only backyard Dylan / With a folksinger’s heart” sings Two Cow Garage’s Micah Schnabel in “Folksinger’s Heart.” And while even an aged Bob Dylan has more vocal heft than Schnabel, who consistently sports a rasp that sounds like he’s been yelling at the top of his lungs for hours on end, he and his Columbus, Ohio-based band do tend to write some compelling songs. The bare-bones heartland rock that marks the bulk of Speaking in Cursive, the band’s fourth album, even veers towards E Street Band territory via crashing guitar chords and Andy Schell’s tinkling keyboards on “Glass City,” one of bassist Shane Sweeney’s several turns at the lead vocal slot. Sweeney’s vocals are at their best during the quieter moments of “The Heart and the Crown,” where he again echoes Springsteen, this time in his folksy acoustic guise. This kind of vocal restraint is in short supply, but Speaking in Cursive is saved by brilliant contemplative moments like the disillusioned “Not Your Friends” and the vivid character sketch “Sadie Mae.” (Suburban Home 2008)

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Billy Currington: Little Bit of Everything

November 21, 2008 / Mike Farley

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)

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Lee Ann Womack: Call Me Crazy

November 14, 2008 / Mike Farley

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)

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