While much of the Country music universe is still reeling from dubstep Taylor Swift, one of Pop music’s brightest star continues her move toward Country music domination. Exhibit A was her duet with Reba McEntire on a remake of her “Because of You,” Exhibit B came in the form of “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Jason Aldean, and Exhibit C was the re-recorded Country version of “Mr. Know It All.” The latest and most successful attempt comes in the form of “Don’t Rush.”
Can you say vintage 80s Country? Vince Gill is in my all-time top five Country vocalists, and his background vocals on the chorus only help to bolster Kelly’s Country cred, but this song is a smash with or without Vince’s vocals (or guitar from the sound of it). And don’t even get me going on the key change at the end of the song! “Don’t Rush” is one of three new songs on Kelly’s upcoming Greatest Hits, along with her current Pop hit “Catch My Breath” and “People Like Us.” The album hits November 19th, but if you can’t wait that long, the single is out on iTunes October 30th, and Kelly will be performing the song live with Vince Gill at the CMA Awards on November 1st on ABC.
I am loving this new Bruno Mars song way more than I should be. Any track that takes the instrumental from the Police’s “Message in a Bottle” and mixes it with Michael Jackson “Beat It” era vocals sounds sketchy, but damn it works. I wish the chorus was just a bit more catchy, but the verses more than make up for that.
I’m not sure what the video is supposed to be about outside the performance. Is Bruno a touring pimp?
Bruno’s follow-up to the ubiquitous Doo-Wops and Hooligans is Unorthodox Religion, and it drops on December 11th. If you can’t wait that long for a Bruno Mars fix, he will be the musical guest on this week’s Saturday Night Live.
I have been a fan of country music in one form or another for years. As a kid, it was more of the crossover stuff, like the Charlie Daniels Band’s “Devil Went Down to Georgia” or Crystal Gayle’s “Talking In Your Sleep.” As I got to college, I started venturing into the more traditional country fare, but still leaning toward the pop-sounding fare. The Judds’ Greatest Hits and Restless Heart’s Wheels were two albums that I remember having in heavy rotation in college, and it only snowballed from there. Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Mary Chapin Carpenter were favorites from the 90s, and I can say I have seen all of them live.
Readers of this blog know that country occasionally falls into my definition of Pop, and no country act has gotten more attention here than Lady Antebellum. While I was bit disappointed by their most recent release (Own the Night), I am still a fan and look forward to seeing their continued growth. As a result of their massive success, there are a lot of male/female vocal groups charting or attempting to chart on the Country chart. Here are three notable examples for your review.
Gloriana “(Kissed You) Good Night”
If there is one song from one group that seems to mimic the Lady Antebellum formula from “Need You Now” above all others, it has to be Gloriana’s “(Kissed You) Good Night.” One verse sung by a guy, one by a woman, and a soaring chorus where they met. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then “(Kissed You) Good Night” is a Lifetime Achievement Award for Lady A. The song has become Gloriana’s biggest hit to date as it sits at number two on the Billboard Country Songs chart with a solid shot at number one. They are also fellow Upstate New Yorkers, so I could not be happier to see them make it big.
Little Big Town “Pontoon”
Changing gears from a newer group to an established quartet, Little Big Town got off to a slow start when they first hit the charts in 2002, but their career kicked into high gear in 2005 with back-to-back top ten hits “Boondocks” and “Bring It On Home.” Their chart success has been mixed since then, but they are back in a big way with a monster hit called “Pontoon.” To my ear, “Pontoon” doesn’t sound very country, save a steel guitar buried in the mix, but whether it’s country or pop or Caribbean, it’s still a great song about “motorboatin’.” No, I didn’t make that up. Watch the video. While Little Big Town doesn’t fit the exact Lady Antebellum model, their combined harmonies and fun material always makes them one to watch.
Western Avenue “Highway Headin’ Out of Town”
When I write a compilation post like this, there is normally one idea or one song that inspires it. In this case, that inspiration goes to brand-new Canadian trio Western Avenue, who followed me on Twitter over the weekend. It isn’t often that Canadian country acts follow me, so I checked out their account and saw they have a debut single called “Highway Headin’ Out of Town.” I have a soft spot for Canadian country acts, and it is often very tough for them to break through in the US without living and working full-time in Nashville. So I found their song and played it. And I played it again. And again. Next thing you know, the chorus was stuck in my head for a solid hour.
One of the big reasons that “Highway Headin’ Out of Town” got lodged in my head is the hook in the chorus. It is one thing to write a song with a catchy hook, but it is another to capitalize on said hook with strong harmonies, and Western Avenue has that covered. The acoustic performance up above gives you a good idea, but check out the studio version to get the full impact of the song. A solid song, tight production and strong harmonies make “Highway Headin’ Out of Town” and Western Avenue ones to watch. In fact, I get the same vibe listening to “Highway” that I did from Lady Antebellum’s debut single “Love Don’t Live Here,” and look what happened there. Here’s hoping some success in the Great White North gets these folks some well-deserved attention in Music City.
“(Kissed You) Good Night,” “Pontoon” and “Highway Headin’ Out of Town” are all available now on iTunes. Gloriana’s A Thousand Miles Left Behind was released in July, while Western Avenue’s debut and Little Big Town’s Tornado are both slated for September releases.
New Mumford and Sons. If this doesn’t put you in a good mood, I don’t know what will.
In going back through my posts, I realized I have not mentioned the Mumfords previously, but that will change. There are few musical acts right now that excite me as much as they do, and I already have tickets to see them at Red Rocks at the end of August. Sigh No More was a revelation to me, and since that album came out I have had it on a pretty regular rotation.
“I Will Wait” continues their alt-Celtic, alt-bluegrass sound that sounds traditional yet contemporary, but it sounds as if Marcus Mumford has discovered what will bring a live crowd to its feet to sing along. As a huge fan of their live shows (this one will be number three), I’m glad to see a band give the fans what they want and still maintain their identity. If anything has changed, it seems that primary writer Marcus Mumford may have lightened up a bit: “I Will Wait” has a much more upbeat message than pretty much everything on Sigh No More.
Raise my hands
Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head
Keep my heart slow
Whether this is an anomaly or a precursor of a more optimistic theme, the Mumfords have successfully whipped their fans into a frenzy for their new opus Babel, which comes out on September 25th. If you can’t wait, “I Will Wait” is available for digital download now.
Sometimes it is good to be an American Idol finalist that people had counted out. After sitting out most of Season Nine of American Idol, I came back on board last year with the advent of new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. Even with the disappointing treatment that third place Haley Reinhart received from the judges for not conforming to their expectations, I got sucked in again this year for Season Eleven, only to lose interest once they reached the Semi-Final rounds. One of the few sparks for me was Phillip Phillips’s Dave Matthew-esque take on more contemporary fare. By the time the show got down to the Final Three (Phillips, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet), I was back on board and loving all three. I braced myself for horrible final songs, and Sanchez didn’t disappoint with her bizarre “Change Nothing.” And then the unthinkable happened…Phillip Phillips got a decent song. “Home” is the first Idol download I’ve purchased since David Cook triumphed in Season Eight, and its Coldplay meets Mumford and Sons vibe has lodged itself in my head randomly over the past two months.
“Home” instantly shot to number one on iTunes and debuted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, but enthusiasm died after a couple of weeks. That enthusiasm returned during the 2012 Olympics, as NBC used his coronation song as the theme music for the now Gold-winning US Women’s Gymnastics team. “Home” currently finds itself back at home on top of the iTunes Singles chart, guaranteeing it will make a strong return to the upper half of the Hot 100 after re-entering at number 84 this week. Seeing that they have momentum at their backs, 19 Recordings decided to finally release the video for “Home.” It’s nothing exciting, which might explain why they didn’t bother releasing it, but it’s got some great scenery.
Someone who has taken a lot longer to finally break through is Season Six finalist Chris Richardson. We’ve been beating the drum for Chris pretty hard for a while now, but things have finally kicked into gear with the release of his first official single on Cash Money Records. Chris hit the Hot 100 last year singing the hook on rapper Tyga’s “Far Away,” and now Tyga is returning the favor by dropping a verse on the intro to “Joy and Pain,” a track that precedes his full-length debut later in 2012. “Joy and Pain” is very of-the-moment in sound and structure, and Chris sounds like he’s having fun with the track. The Tyga rap feels like an add-on rather than part of the song, but it doesn’t take much to picture this fitting in to current Top 40 and R&B radio station playlists. While I prefer some of his self-releasedtracks, “Joy and Pain” is not a bad way to introduce Chris to a wider audience.
Phillip Phillips’s “Home” is available on digital single now in the US. Chris Richardson’s “Joy and Pain” doesn’t have a release date yet, but he tweeted on July 29th “#JoyandPain cover art almost done. Radio add date is close. Hope y’all Are ready, cause I am.”
No…I’m not going anywhere. Not right now anyway. If anything, I’ve been around a lot more lately. Something has been pushing me to pick the keyboard back up and write more in the past two weeks than I have the past two months, and I’m glad for the incentive no matter where it is coming from.
Some of you who know me may think that I am a sentimental kind of guy, but I tend not to dwell too much on the past. My life has been geared forward since I was young as if my best days were ahead of me, and that drive has served me well. Much of my life has been spent thinking “I can’t wait to get to [enter life change here].” However, the last year has seen a bit of a change in that charging-forward attitude. My mortality has come into view a bit more clearly, and as a result, I have been contemplating what happens when we leave this existence we call life. In case you’re wondering, I don’t have any answers for you. It is safe to say that if I did, I wouldn’t be here to type up this post.
I want to tell you a little bit about my friend Ty, someone else who had a “forward” drive. Ty came into my life three years ago as my partner and I were first dating. While we had met once, it wasn’t until a rodeo in July of 2009 that we really got to connect. By the time that weekend was over, I felt like I had been adopted by an older sister. Unfortunately, four months later that newly acquired relative ended up in the hospital with a diagnosis of cancer so aggressive that we were told she only had months to live. Well, months became years, and despite multiple end-of-life predictions, Ty soldiered on. Everyone around her was in awe of the way that she continued to beat the odds. That is, until two weeks ago. I have been told that the passing was peaceful and on her own terms, and for that I am grateful.
People outside of Ty’s inner circle think that she showed a lot of courage in the face of her prognosis, but sadly I know otherwise. She was terrified, as I think most of us would be. So terrified that she never allowed herself to know how serious her diagnosis was until near the end because she wanted to stay positive and fight. However well-intentioned this thinking was, there is no denying that all of us have an expiration date. Unless you die instantaneously in a freak circumstance, you will have to at least think about coming to terms with the inevitable. Please don’t think I am criticizing, because the strength that Ty showed throughout the past three years was amazing and awe-inspiring. In a perfect world, someone would show that strength while confronting their mortality, but what works for one person doesn’t for another and I am not here to judge the decisions that someone facing the end makes.
All of this has made me wonder how I will handle myself when my time arrives. Not only for myself, but also those I love. And then I came across a review of the new single by Country duo Joey + Rory, and I lost it. You are going to need a tissue box for this video. Don’t try to be tough…just give in to the suggestion.
“Just give it time
We’ll both be fine
When I’m gone”
I have no doubt my friend is fine now. Better than fine, even. No suffering, no worries, no doubt. I wish I could say the same about those of us she left behind, but we’ll get there. Eventually we all get there. The only consolation I have in all of this is the time I got to spend with Ty. While it may be cliched to say, my life is a better place for having known her.
For about as long as there has been a pop chart and a country chart, well-written songs have found success on both. Whether it is Patsy Cline taking “Walking After Midnight” to number two on the US Country chart and number 12 on the Pop chart in 1957, or it is dueling versions of the same song by different artists (see “I Swear,” “I Can Love You Like That,” “How Do I Live,” “Back at One,” and of course “I Will Always Love You”), a great song is a great song no matter how much twang you sing it with. We probably should have seen an Adele cover coming from Nashville, but I did not expect to see THIS version:
When I saw that David Nail had recorded a version of “Someone Like You” and was releasing it on an EP, I was nervous. David is an amazing singer and is refreshing in the way he avoids a lot of the Country music clichés, but I didn’t know what his intentions were. Turns out that Nail uses the song to warm up before shows and only recorded the above video for acquaintances who wanted to revisit his powerful interpretation. A video lead to a posting on Vevo, which lead to fans demanding a studio version of the song. Fortunately, David’s record company MCA Nashville decided to play along, scheduling the song for an EP called 1979 that will be released on July 17th.
For those of you not familiar with David Nail, please believe me when I say he’s the real deal. He’s been at the music game for over a decade, but scored his first major hit in 2008 with “Red Light,” which went top 10 on the Country chart and even reached the middle region of the Billboard Hot 100. His biggest hit to date came last year with “Let It Rain,” which went to number one and cemented his status as one to watch. I saw him open for Lady Antebellum on their Need You Now tour in 2010, and he quickly won over an audience who primarily had no idea who he was. In fact, he was so good that he made a band on their first headlining tour look downright amateurish. The one thing I remembered about David Nail’s set is that he did not resort to a lot of covers like other acts do (including Lady Antebellum). He owned that audience simply by playing his own music and playing it well. Any success and respect this guy gets is well-deserved.
I have a history for liking male pop artists that got their start on American Idol. Elliot Yamin, Blake Lewis and (most importantly) Chris Richardson have all made their mark on the pop charts post-Idol to some degree, but none of them have had what you’d call a superstar career. Chris Rich may be on his way to the next level via Young Money, but that remains to be seen (check back in about a week or so for more on that). In the meantime, it’s time to welcome Stefano Langone to the club. His initial hook on the show was his soulful vocals (especially his cover of Smokie Norful’s “I Need You Now“), but he made his mark on the semi-finals with a remixed version of Stevie Wonder’s classic “Lately.”
While making it to seventh on American Idol is nothing to sneeze at, it sure isn’t a guarantee of a recording contract. In fact, of the ten previous 7th place finishers, only Academy Award-winning Jennifer Hudson has had any enduring success in the music business. However, season 11 was different. When Pia Toscano was unexpectedly eliminated after Top Nine Week, Interscope Records quickly put out a press release saying that her signing was inevitable, showing the equation for signing Idol artists would be a little different now that Jimmy Iovine was directly involved in the show. So when an announcement was made in January 2012 that Stefano was signed to Hollywood Records, no one was really surprised. Fast forward three months later, and here is the initial offering from Stefano Langone:
Full disclosure: The first time I heard “I’m On a Roll,” I didn’t know what to make of it. I expected something slightly more R&B than pop, but after a few listens, the song is now stuck in my head. The lyrics aren’t going to set the world on fire, but the song is fun and it fits right in with what is getting airplay in the US right now. If this is the direction he planned on going, he’s made a pretty brilliant play for pop success, even bringing along in-demand rappers the New Boyz for the ride. However, I believe Stefano may be setting himself up for getting a foot in the door so his more soulful vocals and writing can get to a wider audience. That in itself makes rooting for “I’m On a Roll” to be a success even easier to do.
Stefano Langone’s “I’m On a Roll” comes out on April 24th in the US, and he will perform the song for the first time on American Idol on the 26th.
It has been a year and a half in the making, but the wait has been worth it. World, meet Aiden Grimshaw:
As I type this, I realize many already know who Aiden is. He appeared on the 2010 edition of The X Factor UK, and was a surprise elimination early in the semi-finals, leaving before lesser competitors like Paije Richardson and Katie Waissel. The fact that Waissel was saved over Grimshaw was a glaring reminder that while talent competitions need talent, they also need drama. No matter. As of today, Aiden is in a much better place than Katie, as his first single for RCA Records (UK) is unleashed upon the world. “Is This Love” (out 3 June in the UK) finds Grimshaw in his element, matching his angsty yet ethereal vocals against a drum-and-bass track that places him right in the middle of a dance-primed pop market custom-built for the track. While his US prospects might not be as solid, you never know, as Alex Clare is currently climbing the Billboard Hot 100 with “Too Close,” thanks to a Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 advert.
So rather than talk about what “Is This Love” is like, let’s talk about what it is not like: anything on Syco Music. Being ejected from the The X Factor appears to have been a blessing, as he is not saddled with the formulaic common pop track that other acts like One Direction or JLS appear to be more than happy to record. That’s not to slam them, because there’s a place in the marketplace for that, and based on sales it’s a big place. Here’s hoping that Aiden Grimshaw blazes his own trail and defies the odds stacked against X Factor alumni who don’t finish in the Top 3.
Aiden Grimshaw’s full-length debut Misty Eye arrives on 13 August via RCA Records (UK). If Misty Eye is as solid as “Is This Love”, it will be ranked among the best albums released by an artist from any talent show, not just The X Factor.
As a music lover, I’m all about a groove or a vibe that moves my feet, my head or my soul. Having said that, for some reason I’m biased against dance music recorded by male vocalists. It’s not that I dislike male vocalists, but much of the time I just don’t buy the male vocal on a straight-ahead dance track. That’s why some of the dance-pop music that has come out over the past two months has been so impressive to me. Here are a few tracks that are keeping my earbuds jumping:
“The Rush” – Warren Nomi
Warren Nomi’s current release for Citrusonic, “The Rush.” is a bit different from a lot of the radio-ready dance music hitting the airwaves currently, but it’s not tough to imagine “The Rush” slotting into a dance-friendly playlist. I have a good feeling about this guy: he proved in his prior incarnation as Nomi Madness that he has a great ear for a strong hook (see “Red Wine Girl“), so here’s hoping this is just the start. Nomi’s deal with Citrusonic is currently just singles, but it only takes one track to take off for an album to get the green light and this may be the song to seal the deal. You can pick up “The Rush” on iTunes and Amazon now.
“Only the Horses” – Scissor Sisters
There is always a chance when an established act goes in a more mainstream-sounding direction that the word “sellout” will be slung at them. If that’s the case, I hope the Scissor Sisters are ready, because it is going to happen to them any minute now. After a bizarre but cool hip-hop track called “Shady Love” surfaced in January, they have launched the official first single from their upcoming fourth disc Magic Hour (out 28 May in the UK, out…sometime in the rest of the world). “Only the Horses” sounds like a cross between a remix of and a sequel to Night Work‘s “Fire with Fire”, with Calvin Harris and Alex Ridha along for the ride on production. Yes, this song musically sounds like much of the current dance-pop onslaught, but at the heart of the track are well-written lyrics and a strong vocal performance from Jake Shears. If I have a complaint, it’s that Ana Matronic seems to have been lost in the shuffle of Magic Hour‘s promotion, and I’m hoping her presence will be felt once the full album drops. Give in and love this track…I already have. (Out 13 May in the UK, hopefully around that time in the US?)
“Let’s Go” – Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo
Speaking about Mr. Harris, he unleashes what feels like the ninth single off of his hopefully-forthcoming album in the form of “Let’s Go.” While the majority of DJ tracks feature powerful female vocalists, Harris had the right sense to bring in Ne-Yo to give the track a fresh sound, and it’s obvious from the first verse that Calvin chose well. Ne-Yo proved that he could propel a hot track back in ’08 with “Closer”, and he doesn’t stray far from that formula here. Expect this to be massive everywhere, including the US once the current single “Feels So Close” dies down a bit. (Out 22 April in the UK)
While much of the Country music universe is still reeling from dubstep Taylor Swift, one of Pop music’s brightest star continues her move toward Country music domination. Exhibit A was her duet with Reba McEntire on a remake of her “Because of You,” Exhibit B came in the form of “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Jason Aldean, and Exhibit C was the re-recorded Country version of “Mr. Know It All.” The latest and most successful attempt comes in the form of “Don’t Rush.” 
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