April 23, 2008 at 3:19 pm (Single Review)
Tags: Chuck Wicks, country music, music, Single Review
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.
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April 23, 2008 at 3:01 pm (Single Review)
Tags: ashley gearing, country music, music, Single Review
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-
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April 10, 2008 at 2:46 am (Notes)
Tags: country, music, review
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
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April 9, 2008 at 6:48 pm (Concert Review)
Tags: concert, Concert Review, kathleen edwards, music, review
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.
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April 9, 2008 at 2:18 am (Album Review)
Tags: country music, music, review
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
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April 9, 2008 at 1:48 am (Notes)
Tags: country music, list, music, Notes
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
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April 5, 2008 at 11:11 pm (About Me)
Tags: introduction, me
Well nobody has visited my blog, maybe I’m doing something wrong. Either way I’m going to continue posting just incase somebody does stumble upon this blog and wants to read it. I figured whoever it is should know who I am. My full name is Jordan Michael Allan Kanenrake Stacey. I am 18 years old and in college (which is why I won’t be able to post very often). I live in Kahnawake, which is a native american reserve, because I am native american. My Kahnienkeha name (Kanenrake) means “Amongst the crowd”, which fits me pretty good because I just kinda blend in.I listen to all kinds of music, but my favorite is country. This is because I grew up with country. Both my grandfathers were in bands when they were younger, one of them was in The Mighty Mohawks, which opened the World Expo ‘67 in Montreal. The other wasn’t as successful but he is the bigger influence on me, due to our close relationship. Every summer we would go up to Tioweroton, which is in the Laurentian Mountains. We have a cabin there, and my grandfather would either play his guitar and sing, or he’d put on a tape, while we sat by the camp fire. It was there, listening to George Jones, Tammy Wynett, Lefty Frizzell, Randy Travis, Loretta Lynn, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam, Alan Jackson, and of course my grandfathers favorite Jim Reeves, that I learned to love country.It wasn’t until I was thirteen (2003), that I really started listening to the modern country artists. I had never owned a CD up until then. My first album was a christmas present (2003). It was Brad Paisley’s Mud On The Tires. Since then I have amassed a collection of 600 albums, about 120 a year.I started this blog to write my thoughts down somewhere other could read them. I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert, I just want somewhere I can post my thoughts. I’m not the best writer, I have trouble getting my points across, so if you read the post and wish me to clarify I’ll try my best. Niawen tanon Onenki Wahi. (Thank You, and goodbye. (Or see you later))
Update: People have come yay!
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April 5, 2008 at 12:00 am (Album Review)
Tags: Album Review, american idol, country music, music, review
It’s been over five years since Josh Gracin made his debut on American Idol, where he came in forth, and almost four since his debut album. In between his first album and this follow up American Idol castoffs have become common place on country radio. What most people seem to forget is that Carrie wasn’t the first, that honor belongs to Josh.
Did being out of the spotlight affect him? Yes and no. He wasn’t truly gone, he was releasing singles but radio seemed to ignore them, thus this album kept getting pushed back. The wait for this album was long, and I was let down by the finished product.
I have always liked Josh’s voice, I think that it has a nice warmth to it, but very few songs on We Weren’t Crazy let him show this. For most of the album it feels like he’s disconnected from the songs, there’s no emotion in any of the songs.
There are two exceptions to this though. “Favorite State Of Mind” & ”Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” are the only two songs that stood out to me. “Favorite State Of Mind” showed a cool thing Josh is able to do, rapid fire lyrics, which he used to great effect in “Nothin’ To Lose”, which was his first #1. I love this technique and it gives him something to set him apart. If he incorporated this in to more of his songs it would give him something he desperately needs, a personality. “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” doesn’t feature the rapid fire delivery, instead it goes the opposite direction as a slow ballad. This is the only song Josh wrote alone, and it’s a sweet tribute to his wife. Some reviews I’ve read have been comparing it to Lonestar’s “Amazed”, and while I don’t think it’s that good I believe this is the best song Josh has et to record. It’s simple production perfectly suits the lyrics.
It’s too bad the rest of the album isn’t as good as those two, but after repeated listens I still can’t remember them. For all the Josh fans who have been waiting for this album, they will be pleased. For the rest of us, download the two I mentioned and skip the rest. 2 Out Of 5
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