Lady Antebellum - Own The Night

LadyAntebellum - Own The Night
2011, Capitol Records Nashville

Multi-platinum recording artistsLady Antebellum suffer an identity crisis on their latest album, Own TheNight, vacillating wildly between 1980's pop and thinly veiled 1980's popthinly veiled as country music. The blend largely explains Lady Antebellum'spopularity, as many of today's pop/country fans were Garth Brooks converts fromthe 1980's rock and roll they grew up on. Not there is anything wrong with anyof these styles, but Lady Antebellum's latest plays more like a closelysurveyed, market-designed product than an album of original art.

Things start out well with "WeOwned The Night". The 1980's pop theme is definitely here, but it'saccompanied by a memorable chorus and a great melody. Even "Just AKiss" satisfies as the sort of love song you might have heard at a juniorhigh dance circa 1985. Unfortunately, Lady Antebellum slip on their own formulaand fall into the soup for much of the rest of the album, playing sounds andstyles certain to register high for pop and country radio programmers, andforgetting the passion and energy that have made such stars so far.

It would be easy to blame this oneon the greedy record labels. It would be entirely in character for a label topush an already uber-successful band to alter their sound to maximize theprofit potential of an album, but it's a shame to hear a band with real talentgive in so whole-heartedly to the corporate shuffle. There are moments herewhen Lady Antebellum shines like the sun, particularly on the track "LoveI've Found In You", but there's an overarching feeling of cliché to OwnThe Night that's impossible to ignore.

Rating:2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.ladyantebellum.com or www.myspace.com/ladyantebellum. 

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Jody Lee Petty - Done My Time

Jody Lee Petty – Done My Time
2011, Jody Lee Petty

If you knew Jody Lee Petty as a child, you’d never guess he would turn into a country singer on the cusp of stardom; a star athlete, perhaps, but never a singer.  Petty’s childhood revolved around sports.  He eventually starred in basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne College; leading the nation in free-throw percentage his senior year.  After college, Petty went on to spend eight years on the professional beach volleyball circuit.  Next came modeling, when Petty was spotted by a talent scout in Miami.  This career led him to music, through appearances in several music videos, including LeAnn Rimes’ “Something’s Gotta Give.”  These days, Jody Petty is making his own music videos, in support of his dazzling new EP, Done My Time.

Jody Lee Petty gets things started with a sweet bit of modern country with classic embellishments in the form of "Country Song And A Bible Verse."  There's an authenticity here that's surprising, and a melody that practically sings itself to you.  Petty shows some of the same charisma that made Garth Brooks a superstar, and creates a commercial country number with big hit potential without managing to sound like a mass-produced pop/country maven.  "Done My Time" is a big time rocker in country clothing.  It's a great tune, but you can hear the heavy rock arrangement that wants to explode out of this number if you listen closely.  There's a dark, outlaw feel to the number, but a genteel aspect that is counterintuitive and intriguing.

If the right radio programmer ever gets hold of "I’ve Done My Time," Jody Lee Petty is going to be a massive superstar.  This tune will not get out of your head, and forget keeping your feet still.  Petty's blend of southern-fried rock is infectious, and features some of the best honky-tonk piano you'll hear in 2011.  What a horse meant to a cowboy in the olden days is now the province of his pick-up.  Petty gets to the point on "This Ole Truck," a love song to Detroit's greatest export.  It's a solid tune; a country ballad in form and function. 

"Shotgun" uses wordplay and a winking sense of humor to explore how an innocent summer tryst turns into a lifetime.  The title itself is a fond remembrance from a country boy that commemorates different points in his life in different ways.  This song is a charmer that will get under your skin with its blend of heart and humor.  Petty shows off his rock intentions, once again dressed in country style, with the upbeat anthem "Rockin' On The River".  Elements of Queen, The Doobie Brothers and Garth Brooks come together in unique fashion for a memorable summer hit-in-waiting. 

It's impossible to walk away from Done My Time and not be impressed with Jody Lee Petty.  His voice is classic country, and Petty shows a talent for writing country numbers with distinct pop sensibility and a secret rock n roll pedigree that doesn't quit.  Petty looks and sounds like a rock star in country clothing, and it wouldn't be surprising to look up one of these days and see his name at or near the top of the Billboard Country charts.  Songs such as "Country Song And A Bible Verse" and "I’ve Done My Time" have gold record written all over them, and there isn't a weak song in the bunch.  With Done My Time, Jody Lee Petty proves it's possible to write honest country music with massive commercial appeal.  With the right breaks, Petty will be rocking the country airwaves for years to come.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Jody Lee Petty at www.myspace.com/jodyleepetty.  Done My Time is a forthcoming release.  Keep checking Petty’s website for updates.

Eric Church - Chief

Eric Church - Chief
2011, EMI Records Nashville

Three full length albums into his career and Eric Church already has several top-20 singles to his name, a gold album, and a new album, Chief, that has already hit #1 on the US Album Charts and US Country charts.  Church almost gave up music at one point, encouraged by the father of a fiancée to take a job in the corporate world.  In the end, Church spurned the boardroom, and romance, and headed to Nashville.  Now on top of the country world with Chief, Church wouldn't have it any other way.

Chief opens with "Creeping", a dark and entertaining outlaw country tune with pure rock attitude.  The song is as catchy as anything you've heard on CMT in a long time, and features a muscular guitar-based sound that's ready to cross over to rock stations as well.  "Drink In My Hand" is a modern take on the old adage that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  This one is destined to be a bar/party favorite, and seems a likely candidate to storm up the country charts if released as a single.  "Keep On" sticks with the catchy outlaw country motif, with an arrangement that sounds like borrows heavily from Garth Brooks' "Rodeo".  Church shows his softer side with the third-person love ballad "Like Jesus Does", employing a 1960's-style pop/country sound that works surprisingly well.  The songwriting here is crisp and clean, and Church hits you with a sweet melody that rolls over you like water.

"Homeboy" is an attempt by the brother who stayed behind to reach out to a prodigal son who left home under a veil of acrimony and violence.  It's a classic tale told in the lingo of the day, and shows a surprising depth that one might not guess from some of Church's darker, more rock-oriented numbers.  "Country Music Jesus" is a call for revival in country music.  Elements of rock, country and gospel blend here in a lighthearted and infectious tune you'll be humming for days.  Church pays fealty to his betters on "Jack Daniels", citing one opponent who always leaves him worse for the wear.  "Springsteen" is a song of remembrance of teenage summer nights and young love.  Melodies are the focal point that brings it all back, in this case the melodies of Springsteen's 1980's pop radio heyday.  Church explores the emotions of finding your ex is engaged in the angry-yet-infectious "I'm Getting Stoned".  Church's arrangement is angry, roiling rock and roll, and is laced with lyrics full of dark humor and bile.  Chief leaves the stage with the enigmatic and curt ending of "Over When It's Over", a matter of fact post-mortem that deals more with the facts than post-relationship analysis.  The rather abrupt ending to the song will leave some listeners hanging and waiting for a full resolution, but you'll have to wait for the next album to hear more.

Not since Garth Brooks has one artist so completely mixed an appreciation and respect for country music with distinctive pop sensibility and rock and roll attitude.  Chief reaches across the boundaries of country and rock and roll, crumples them into a scraggly ball and tosses them aside.  Eric Church goes where he wants, evoking dark thoughts, honest, confused emotions and a sense that life is lived in the honest margins of human imperfection.  Chief is a smashing success, due all the commercial success is it currently experiencing.  Don't miss this one.  Chief is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Eric Church at www.ericchurch.com or www.myspace.com/ericchurch.  Chief is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download, and is also available via iTunes.

Mike McCarroll – Honky Tonk Dreams

Mike McCarroll – Honky Tonk Dreams
2010, Mike McCarroll Productions

Mike McCarroll was indoctrinated into music at an early age, dancing around the kitchen with his mom to Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” and “All Shook Up” as a toddler.  It wasn’t until enlisting in the army during the Vietnam War that McCarroll picked up a guitar and began to have a sense he could create music.  In the 1960’s and 1970’s it was rock n roll that lit McCarroll’s lamp.  By the late 1970’s McCarroll had made the jump to southern rock, and in the 1980’s was reborn of country music.  The birth of the alternative country movement awoke something in McCarroll that had been there all along.  He began to write country/rock tunes for his own enjoyment, and by 2008 he had released his debut album, the critically acclaimed At The Crossroads.  McCarroll returned in 2010 with Honky Tonk Dreams, refining his outlaw country sound and putting appealing distance between himself and the commercial country pack.

Honky Tonk Dreams opens with “Cash Crop”, a low key southern country-rock tune that explores the difficulties faced by small time farmers and the lengths they must at times go through to survive.  The farm’s new lifeblood grows in line between the rows of corn.  McCarroll sounds like a cross between Paul Gross (Due South, Men With Brooms) and Garth Brooks on “The Devil In The Mirror” while exploring the dark, unknown side of human nature.  “Honky Tonk Dream” finds McCarroll channeling the spirit of Jerry Reed in a good-time tune that looks forward to the weekend as a way to get through the week.  “I Had It All” is a song of heartbreak, lamenting a love lost and the fact that he let her slip away. 

“If The Devil Brought You Roses” is a stellar mix of country, rock and blues.  McCarroll, in character as a less-than-ideal man, asks for another chance, or at least one more roll in the hay.  This mid-tempo creation is as catchy as anything you’ll hear on country radio, but the level of personality and commitment in the performance offered here is striking.  This song will stick with you.  “It’s All About You” is a kiss off, country style.  The title takes on a double meaning in a tongue-in-cheek turns that’s highly entertaining and fun.  “Merle Haggard Jack Daniels & Me” is all about drinking, classic country music and the sort of brotherly commiseration that can only occur at your neighborhood bar.

McCarroll stands up for Indie artists everywhere on “Pop-Style Cookie-Cutter Formula”, informing pop/country music executives what they can do with the songs they want him to play.  The honky-tonk arrangement is laced with the rebellious feel of early rock n roll.  “Southern Pride” is an ode to southern rock and some of its greatest purveyors.  McCarroll takes another shot at the music industry here, lamenting labels’ determination to essentially ignore a market for which there is still significant interest.  Along the way McCarroll references some of his own influences, including The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Charlie Daniels Band, the Atlantic Rhythm Section and the Charlie Daniels Band.  “Waitin’” is a bit of light-heard, mid-tempo country fun.  “Waitin’ On The Whiskey To Work” takes a slightly darker turn about drowning your sorrows.  This isn’t a light drinking tune; it’s a serious, all hands on deck get drunk and forget song.  “What You Gonna Do” finds McCarroll back in the honky-tonk, leaning dangerously close to early rock n roll with a musical blend with elements of Garth Brooks, Hank Jr. and Jerry Lee Lewis.  This is a potential country hit, being the most commercial tune on the album without the air of trying to be.

Mike McCarroll takes a lifetime of musical influences and channels it through his own quintessence to create a sound that is simultaneously modern and classic.  Picking up the mantle from gentlemen such as Hank Williams Jr. and Garth Brooks, Mike McCarroll does his own thing, his way.  McCarroll has a way of blending intelligent lyrics, the irreverent spirit of rock and roll and first class musicianship into songs that are eminently listenable and call you back again and again.  McCarroll’s attitude toward the pop/country ways of Nashville virtually assures that Honky Tonk Dreams probably won’t get the airplay or national attention it deserves, but is a fine example of the sort of great music that happens on the fringes of Nashville once the bills have been paid.  Honky Tonk Dreams is one of the finest country albums to surface in 2010.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5) 

Learn more about Mike McCarroll at www.mikemccarroll.com.  Honky Tonk Dreams is available as a Honky Tonk Dreams or Honky Tonk Dreams from Amazon.com.  Digital versions are also available via iTunes.

Kasey Lansdale – Never Say Never

Kasey Lansdale – Never Say Never
2010, Kasey Lansdale

Kasey Lansdale is a little Texas gal with big dreams.  At the age of 23 she already writes songs for one of the largest Music Row song factories, tours the world and is on the verge of dropping her third EP, Never Say Never.  Lansdale has the looks and voice to make it in Nashville and beyond, but also has brains galore.  A published writer, Lansdale wrote a story at the tender age of eight that is currently being shopped as a Hollywood screenplay.  Music is the force that turns Lansdale’s world however, and with Never Say Never she’s elevated her game to a level that tends to garner national or even international attention.

Never Say Never opens with “Half As Much”, a mature and literate kiss-off song that’s full of the sorrow of a classic country heartbreaker, but takes the type of positive turn that Garth Brooks was known for.  “Why Can’t I” rues her inability to just wall off her emotions for a former love when he has simply walked away like nothing has ever happened.  “Just Another Guy” is an uncomfortable blend of 1970’s pop and country.  This song simply doesn’t work well, although Lansdale’s voice saves it from being a total washout.  Lansdale is inspired by Bonnie Raitt on the title track.  “Never Say Never” explores the idea of romantic returns, justifying them at times and even allowing that sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.  “Hard To Be A Lady” is the best overall track on the album, and the one most likely to land Lansdale on the country charts.  The concept is a classic one, that a particular man is so irresistible that it makes it hard for her to behave.  Lansdale owns this one as if she’s in the middle of the emotional/hormonal tornado the song implies.

Kasey Lansdale isn’t just a vocalist, she’s a performer.  Never Say Never confirms Lansdale’s place among some of the bright young stars in country music.  The EP should, in a perfect world, land Lansdale on the charts and in the hearts of country music fans everywhere. 

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Kasey Lansdale at www.kaseylansdale.com or www.myspace.com/kaseylansdale.  Never Say Never should see the light of day in early 2011.  Keep checking Kasey Lansdale's website for availability.

Christine Marie - Christine Marie [EP]

Christine Marie - Christine Marie [EP]

2009, Christine Marie

Christine Marie is a California girl with southern intentions.  A singer/songwriter not yet out of her teens, Christine Marie is already a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International and BMI, and is planning to move to Nashville as she starts college in 2011.  In 2009, Christine Marie released her self-titled debut EP, a 3-song collection of pop country inspired by the likes of Garth Brooks, Leanne Rimes and Keith Urban. 

Christine Marie opens with delicious pop/country of "Boy Behind The Radio", tracking the dreams of a young girl with a crush on a singer making her own dreams come true by becoming the girl behind the radio and someday meeting the voice.  Incredibly catchy, Christine Marie works the song for all its worth.  The song is universally appealing as there isn't a person out there who hasn't entertained a similar dream at least once in their life.  "Let's Do Somethin' About It" comes from the same country/pop lineage.  Christine Marie offers up a dynamic vocal performance, singing lead and harmony vocals on the EP.  There's a bit of a Jackson Browne-meets-Shania Twain aesthetic here that's hard to ignore.  Christine Marie closes with "It Starts Today", a musical resolution to go out and grab life by the horns and take what the world has to offer.  Once again a highly catchy turn, all the more appealing as the song (and the rest of the EP) hasn't been glossed over with the sort of high production values that steal life from the music. 

There's so much to consider in thoughts of who will "make it" and who will not.  Who you know and luck are big components of bridging the gap between being great and being famous, and such things cannot be predicted.  From a talent standpoint, from voice to sound to affability, Christine Marie displays the tools it takes to become a household name.  The songs offers on Christine Marie are catchy and accessible, with the sort of energy that tends to light up the request lines at country radio.  It might not happen right now, but don't be surprised if Christine Marie makes it big someday.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Christine Marie at http://www.christinemariesings.com/ or www.myspace.com/christinemariesings.  Christine Marie is available digitally through Amazon.com and iTunes.