Hey guys. I know there have been a lot of people devoted to this website and even more casual followers, however the time has come to take an indefinite hiatus from the blog.
As fun as the past year has been, I find that trying to critique singles and albums and keep up with the traditionalist crowd is no good for a contemporary like me. I find that it has come to a point where my personal enjoyment of the music I once loved with little hatred for anyone has been stained and country music for me was becoming a less interesting and enjoyable area of study.
To leave everyone with one last address by me, I would like to draw attention to country music reviews and critiquing as a whole……it needs to STOP!!. I have become tired of the bashing and the hatred for what is, inevitably, the future of country music in the contemporary offerings. You don’t like it tough, go somewhere else. From Julianne Hough to Kenny Chesney this is what country has become, what it will be, and where it is going and no amount of bashing or traditionalist, anti-country or ultra-contemporary opinions or voices are ever, EVER going to change that. In the end drawing to much on what it should be or what one wants the music to be only takes away the fun in listening to good music, in my opinion th best music out there. George Jones, Conway Twitty, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Keith urban, Martina, Shania, Garth, Willie, Merle, Hank, Haggard, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith…they are all country and I only ask that fans don’t let reviewers like myself destroy what was and can still be one of the biggest musical genres in the world simply because it’s not what others enjoy. To those who do review albums like i did, please stick to what you enjoy and stop bashing what you don’t. If you’re traditionalist, leave contemporaries alone, and vice versa. it’s uncalled for to try and degrade someone who doesn’t sing what you like in the first place. That defies the reviewers credibility and it’s just nasty and uncalled for.
I hope you guys enjoyed the site. I don’t know where the future lies for it or me, but I know country music will always be a part of it. Thanks to the guys at Country universe for helping me get this started and keeping it running and thanks to all my supporters, it’s been fun.
Jonathan Singleton and the Grove have recently begun to make waves in country music as a hopefully future powerhouse. With music spanning from traditional to soft contemporary, Singleton and his crew have defiantly begun to show some potential in the country world and I think it’s about time they were given some well deserved respect. So I would like to make this band the first to be featured in “Get To Know” a feature that is dedicated to spreading the word about new up and coming acts. The information in these features are taken from other sources, specifically wikipedia (rarely), myspace, facebook and the artist’s website. The reason being, I can only share my opinion, but I feel that it is best to simply spread the word in the words of the artists themselves and act as more of an outlet. So feel free to share you opinions and I introduce to you, Jonathan Singleton and The Grove.
After a smash hit with “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” it seemed as if James Otto would be a run away success, however his follow up singles proved to be less than successful. So in an attempt to rekindle the flame he lit with his breakthrough hit, Otto brings back that romantic and smooth feel that seems to fit him so well with his latest release.
“Since You Brought It Up” is every bit of the romantic come and get me love song that “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” was. it’s well written, smooth and fluid, and it presents a aura of experience and true feeling that only James Otto can present in a song like this. However, there lies it one and only real flaw, it is what people want to here. The striking relation between this and Otto’s breakthrough hit is actually as little to close for comfort and while it does nothing to degrade the song itself, it doesn’t really show much of what Otto can do as an artist outside of these kinds of songs.
I look forawrd to seeing this song hopefully bring Otto back to his prime, but I am a little disapointed that he chose to shift backwards to a familier feel and concept to try and do so. While this song is a great mid tempo ballad that suits James very well and presents what has become a signature style for him, it leaves to question whether or not he can really keep up with the big boys when he does shift from these types of songs.
Final Say: Favorable
Listen: www.myspace.com/jamesotto
Love or hate his sometimes awkwardly fitting and unique vocal style, Luke Bryan has defiantly grown a lot since his debut as a writer. Following up his successful debut, Bryan takes a new turn on his newest release by shifting from the party-anthems and country pride songs to a more sentimental one, a love song in fact.
Actually Bryan’s newest single isn’t much of a love song at all, it’s more of a longing for love song really. Bryan takes the character of a man questioning whether or not he still does it for his girl, and asking her if she still loves him and if it’s still work it to try and make it last. With it comes a power and an angst that, up until now, we had yet to actually hear from Bryan considering the material on his debut album was mostly upbeat and pertaining to life rather than love.
There isn’t much wrong with this song other than the fact that it’s pretty generic. it’s nice to hear something different from Luke and see him explore new boundaries, but this single might find it difficult to compete with the many other ballads radio has taken in. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s underserving of the attention. Far from it. In fact, in my personal opinion, this is one of Luke’s best and shows a lot of potential and growth in what he is willing and able to do as an artist.
Final Say: Favorable
Listen: www.myspace.com/lukebryan
It’s hard to tell where new group Gloriana is going to land in the spectrum of country music. They’ve been touring with Killie Pickler and Taylor Swift, yet they’re debut single is a rather mature and rather mature summer fun song that has the potential to put them in good company.
This quartet’s debut single “Wild At Heart” is an upbeat and well harmonized piece of country music gold in its own right. Filled with upbeat country musical composition and a tow tapping melody that is actually rather addicting, there is no reason to think that Gloriana don’t have what it takes to compete with the best of them. The song itself is a fun and upbeat summer love tune that takes full advantage of the band’s four part harmony, even letting former solo artist Cheyenne Nichole Kimball (one fourth of the group) steal a solo from the guys as it progresses.
There’s not much to criticize here. Although it tends to follow the typical feel and conception of what has become known as the conventional production for a country radio single, Gloriana’s debut effort is one to really look into. It’s entertaining, it’s well conceived as a group number, and it manages to hook the listener right in with an unmistakable beat and a great feel good quality to help hold it up. Only time will tell if Gloriana will be the next Little big Town, but “Wild At Heart” helps point them in the right direction.
Final Say: Favorable
Listen: www.myspace.com/gloriana
Members:Henry Paul, Jon Coleman, Chris Anderson, Michael Randell, Randy Threet and Mote Yoho, former members include Anthony Crawford, Dave Robbins and Van Stephenson.
The band Blackhawk was founded by three of its original members, lead vocalist/guitarist Henry Paul, vocalist/guitarist Van Stephenson, and keyboardist/vocalist Dave Robbins, after Stephenson and Robbins earned reputations as powerful and lasting writers in collaboration with Restless Heart and Paul began his attempts at moving up in his career after a run with southern rock band the Outlaws. Although they are the most well known members of the band, Blackhawk was not always a three person claim to fame and would become one of the genre’s most lasting names through the 90’s.
Members: Kassidy Osborn, Kelsi Osborn, Kristyn Osborn
SHeDAISY, although not the most popular country music group on the circuit, have established themselves as one of the genres breakthrough groups for a whole new generation of potentials. As sisters, each one of the girls has brought their own unique talents and images to the group which has helped solidify them as a fan favorite and a lasting imprint on contemporary country music.
Jason Michael Carroll’s sophomore album, which he considers a career making project, Is definitely an interesting one to say the least. The long haired “Alyssa Lies” singer attempts to follow up his debut album with a project of more casual tunes that attempt to capture that same majesty his debut album provided, but how well does it work?
Carroll’s second album falls a little short of the quality of his debut project, a common ailment for sophomore albums, for one huge reason. This time around Carroll is much more in tune with radio friendly and saleable material more than just simply good material. This is evident through his first offering from the album “Where I’m From” which offers a popular and relative subject matter without the accuracy of a great piece of songwriting to back it up. However, this seems to be a rather common downfall for even the most experienced artists these days, i.e. Keith Urban, so it would be foolish and unfair to judge this album purely on this factor alone.
