Mightycountry’s Weblog

Artist: Jason Aldean
Song: Hicktown
Album: Jason Aldean
Writers: Big Kenny, Vicky, McGeheeJohn Rich
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IufJ19mL8c

This song was Jason Aldean’s debut single. It was his first top ten and is his signature song. The song peaked at #10 on the country charts and started off a run of 5 consecutive top ten hits.

Vocals: 3 - Jason showed he had a good voice but he never does anything interesting with it in this song.

Production: 2 - It’s a little bland, by the time this song came out the Big & Rich sound was already being over used.

Originality: 2 - Nothing about the lyric is original, it’s all been heard before.

Artist: Little Big Town
Song: Boondocks
Album: The Road To Here
Writers: Karen Fairchild, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Kimberly Roads, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VisLpVgY26w

While not their debut single like “Hicktown” was for Jason, “Boondocks” was their break through hit, and first top ten. It is also similar to “Hicktown” because it became their signature song. Also both songs charted around the same time.

Vocals: 4 - This song is what introduced most people to the sound of Little Big Town.
Production: 4 - The sound of this song still sounds unique today, back when it was charting it stood out in a good way.
Originality: 3 - It’s more original than “Hicktown” but the topic has been done too many times.

Overall I think “Boondocks” wins this battle. It has a more distinct sound and was something that helped define what Little Big Town is all about. “Hicktown” was a throw away song that helped launch Jason’s career. The song on a whole was bland.

Next Time: Songs Of Innocence

So the last time I tried to start a feature I had to hold off on it, because I didn’t have the time to work on it. This feature however isn’t as complicated. In this feature I will post two songs that are either similar in theme or are linked in some other way. Then for those who wish, they can rate the songs. I will have already rated them, and I’ll add your points to mine and will get an average. I will try to pick songs that are a little more well known, but I will try to post links to videos.

The songs will be scored from 1 to 5 in three categories, with five being the highest score.
The Categories are: 1. Vocal Performance 2. Production 3. Originality

I hope people will be objective as possible.

There are many artist out there who don’t ever make it on to the charts, and even less who make the top 20. Nobody knows what makes certain artists reach the top 20, while others struggle to even chart. Consider a recent artist who only made it to #39, Emily West. Emily is signed to Capitol Nashville, which is one of the biggest labels in country music, having such stars as, Keith Urban, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley and Kenny Rogers on their roster. Yet when they tried to launch Emily’s career they weren’t able to emulate their success with their superstars. For the most part everything Emily was in the same situation as Lady Antebellum. They were both new artist with full label support. They both had unique sounds, looks and personalities. While Lady A. went top 5 with their single Emily just scraped her way into the top 40. So that leaves me with the question, Why Lady Antebellum and not Emily West? What Makes Certain artists succeed while others fail? 

This is the introduction to a feature I’m going to start posting. Similar to 
countryunivers’ women of country music feature, I will (try) to post a new artist every week. Each artist will be one in which I think should’ve been a “Country Rock Star” instead of vanishing from the spotlight.

P.s. The first featured artist is hinted at in the post.

I’m going to make a list of my favorite albums released this year. It will start now, and be updated every time I listen to a new release. Anything I didn’t listen to will not be added.

As Of June 24, 2008

01. Kathy Mattea Coal

02. Kelleigh Bannen Radio Skies

03. Jamey Johnson That Lonesome Song (Rerelease by Mercury)

04. Joanna Cotten Funkabilly

05. Emmylou Harris All I Intended To Be

06. Rebecca Lynn Howard No Rules

07. James Otto Sunset Man

08. Ashton Shepherd Sounds So Good

09. George Strait Troubadour

10. Kathleen Edwards Asking For Flowers

11. Ray Scott Crazy Like Me

12. Shelby Lynne Just A Little Lovin’

13. Lady Antebellum

14. Rhonda Vincent Good Thing Going

15. Jeff Bates

16. The Wrights

17. Crystal Shawanda Dawn Of A New Day

18. Alan Jackson Good Time

19. Jeremy McComb My Side Of Town

20. One Flew South Last Of The Good Guys

21. Justin Rutledge Man Decending

22. Jennifer Hanson Thankful

23. Dolly Parton Backwoods Barbie

24. Deric Ruttan First Time In A Long Time

25. Jewel Perfectly Clear

26. Steve Azar Indianola

27. Chris Cagle My Life’s Been A Country Song

28. The Higgins Real Thing

29. Doc Walker Beautiful Life

30. Phil Vassar Prayer Of A Common Man

31. Carter’s Chord

32. Allison Moorer Mocking Bird

33. Chuck Wicks Starting Now

34. Tift Merritt Another Country

35. The Best Of SHeDAISY

36. Josh Gracin We Weren’t Crazy

37. The Wrights In The Summer Time

38. Julianne Hough

39. Mark Chesnutt Rollin’ With The Flow

40. Katie Armiger Believe

41. Montgomery Gentry Back When I Knew It All

42. Laura Bryna Trying To Be Me

43. Zane Lewis

Listening To Soon:

Catherine Britt Litte Wildflower

Jypsi

The Road Hammers Blood, Sweat & Steel

Phil Stacey

Sugarland Love On The Inside

With me hating his first single I wasn’t expecting much from this follow-up. In a way the low expectations may have lead to me enjoying this song more than I normally would have. I have to say that though I hated “Stealing Cinderella”, I had to admit he had really good vocals. I was able to see him live as well on new years eve, and and he was impressive live. He even made me kinda enjoy “Stealing Cinderella” when he did it acoustically. 

At said show, “Stealing Cinderella” was the highlight for most people. For me however it was “All I Ever Wanted”. During the show he put a lot of power behind his vocals, and even with the speakers going haywire he made it sound good. It was this song that made me want to buy the album, not for it’s lyrics, which sound like something Lonestar would’ve recorded, but for the melody. This song makes up for it’s run of the mill lyrics, with a good vocal performance, and a catchy melody. I hope that Chuck is able to get a hit out of this, because it’s a fun song and it’s way better than his first.  B

P.s. It sounded a little better live which is a good sign. I also got to meet him at the show, I can’t find the picture of me with him, but was able to find the one with my mother and little sister. Which I posted.

Ashley Gearing may be new to most people, but she’s been around nashville now for about five years. She made her debut on Lyric Street Records with  ”Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You”. A full album never came, just the one single. She was signed to and released an album on Squeeze records back in 2006, to little fanfare. Now signed to Curb Records this may be her final shot at the big time.

Ashley isn’t the best vocalist out there, let’s get that out of the way. However that shouldn’t slow her down because one of the industry’s biggest stars right now also has mediocre vocals. It’s the success of this other star that got Ashley her record deal. The other star I’m referring to is obviously Taylor Swift, who is what Ashley is being marketed as, the next Taylor Swift. 

The problem with Ashley is that, though her vocals are somewhat better than Taylor’s, that means nothing when the songs just aren’t as good. “Out The Window” mines a similar territory as Carter’s Chord tried just a few months ago. A young girl runs away with her boyfriend against their parents wishes, and then they prove them wrong by sticking together. The only time I found this story line interesting was when Jason M. Carroll did it with “Livin’ Our Love Song”, this pales in comparison to both. 

Lyrically this is uninteresting, and musically it’s uninventive. She does a decent (read mediocre) vocal performance, but that won’t get her anywhere on the charts. With Curb busy with their other three females right now (Jo Dee, LeAnn, Heidi), I doubt they will push this song enough to make it a hit.

C-

Since my blog is fairly new, and since I have only reviewed one single, I’ll rate the current top twenty songs. This is just to give an idea of my likes and dislikes. 

#01. Trace Adkins “You’re Gonna Miss This” - B+

#02. George Strait “I Saw God Today” - B-

#03. Chris Cagle “What Kinda Gone” - B

#04. James Otto “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” - A

#05. Taylor Swift “Picture To Burn” - C

#06. Jason Aldean “Laughed Until We Cried” - B

#07. Alan Jackson “Small Town Southern Man” - A-

#08. Phil Vassar “Love Is A Beautiful Thing” - B+

#09.  Rascal Flatts “Every Day” - D-

#10. Brad Paisley “I’m Still A Guy” - C

#11. Bucky Covington “It’s Good To Be Us” - D+

#12. Carrie Underwood “All-American Girl” - C+

#13. Lady Antebellum “Love Don’t Live Here” - B-

#14. Jewel “Stronger Woman” - B+

#15. Dierks Bentley “Trying To Stop Your Leaving” - B

#16. Jake Owen “Something About A Woman” - D+

#17. Carrie Underwood “Last Name” - C+

#18. Kellie Pickler “Things That Never Cross A Man’s Mind” - C+

#19. Montgomery Gentry “Back When I Knew It All” - B-

#20. Joe Nichols “It Ain’t No Crime” - B

I was lucky enough to catch a show last week. Where I live (Montreal, Quebec) there isn’t much of a country music scene, so I always try to make it to see any country acts coming out my way. I missed the opportunity to see Kathleen last year, but I made sure I would be there this time. 

The venue was small but I was one of the first in, so I choose a spot right over the stage. I was joined by another concert goer whose friend didn’t show up and we started chatting about our music tastes. I thourougly enjoyed her company, and we both found we had similar tastes. I had to ask her about the opening act Justin Rutledge, since I wasn’t familliar with his work. 

When Justin came on stage and started singing I knew right there and then that I’d be going home with no money. Right after his show was over and they were getting the stage ready for Kathleen, I rushed to buy his records at the merchandise stand. That’s one of the main reasons I love opening acts, sometimes you may find something new.

Then Kathleen came on. I was in my glory, because she came out singing one of my favorite songs “Mercury”. She continued to play all the fan favorites as well as some of the not so well known songs from her collection. In between songs she would tell little stories. Like right before “Scared At Night” she explanied where the verse about her father shooting the cat came from. Another cute story she told us was about how they’re planning to film a video for “I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory” which she’ll have to kiss Marty McSorley, her guitarist/husband pretended to be offened. 

There was one point about 3/4 of the way through where somebody fell asleep with their head on a speaker. I couldn’t even begin to wonder how he could sleep on one of those amps, and neither could Kathleen apparently, because she told his girlfriend to wake him up. She then questioned how he could be asleep on the amp when Kathleen can’t even stand near one (If you’ve ever been near one you know what she means). During the next song she went near the guy and made sure he was paying attention. 

It was a fun show, and Kathleen definatley has a stage presence. She never lost the crowd (save for the guy who fell asleep), and I’d recommend her to anybody who likes good music. She’s the perfect blend of country, rock and folk. I’d put it in my top five concerts. 

I should start this review off by stating I dislike Jeff Bates new look, it almost looks like he’s trying to be a pop star. Other than that though there’s nothing truly wrong with this album. In fact it’s one of my favorites from this year. I’ve been a fan of Jeff’s voice since he first appeared in 2003 with Rainbow Man. I never truly liked the songs he recorded, but his voice made up for the sub-par material. In the years since he hasn’t been as successful as I think he could have been, and because of this he lost his records deal with RCA. Jeff went the indie route, and I think he’s delivered his best work yet.

On his first two albums, there was a lot of songs about love or about his stint in jail. It always felt forced, like the label was forcing him to record the songs. That fake feeling has all disappeared  on this album, and for the first time it feels real. His voice sounds better than it ever has, and the production is much better. Jeff has stated that this is the album he always wanted to record, and it comes across in his performances. 

Even with Jeff sounding better than ever, there’s a small part of me that knows it’s not enough. None of the songs on here sound like a hit song. I don’t hear anything that will make Jeff a star. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s really good, it’s just not exceptional. It is better than his previous albums but, his previous albums weren’t that good. And that’s the problem with Jeff. He has an amazing country voice, but he never gets material to which he could do justice. Most of these songs anybody could pull off, I want to hear something that only Jeff could do. This album is a step in the right direction but it’ll take more than this to make Jeff a household name.

3 out of 5

I’m going to make a list of my favorite albums released this year. It will start now, and be updated every time I listen to a new release. Anything I didn’t listen to will not be added.

As Of April 8,

01. Kathy Mattea Coal

02. Jamey Johnson That Lonesome Song (Re-released by Mercury)

03. James Otto Sunset Man 

04. Ashton Shepherd Sounds So Good

05. George Strait Troubadour

06. Kathleen Edwards Asking For Flowers

07. Rhonda Vincent Good Thing Going

08. Jeff Bates

09. The Wrights

10. Alan Jackson Good Time

11.  Justin Rutledge Man Descending 

12.  Dolly Parton Backwoods Barbie

13.  Deric Ruttan First Time In A Long Time

14.  Chris Cagle My Life’s Been A Country Song

15.  Allison Moorer Mockingbird

16.  Chuck Wicks Starting Now

17.  The Best Of SHeDAISY

18.  Josh Gracin We Weren’t Crazy

19.  Laura Bryna Trying To Be Me

20.  Zane Lewis