He has been described as having a modern sound with echoes of the past. Irish recording artist Gary Quinn is an award winning singer songwriter whose songs will touch your heart. 

Born and raised in Ireland, Gary grew up listening to Kris Kristofferson and fell in love with the country music of the 1990s, especially Garth Brooks. He has performed as part of the CMA Songwriters Series with Bob DiPiero and Kristin Bush of Sugarland as well as the Belfast Nashville Songwriter's Festival and the Belfast Nashville Songwriter Showcase.

His self titled release contains ten songs, all of which were written or co-written by Gary. The songs include heartfelt ballads, mid-tempo country songs and ones that would be right at home in a honky tonk. His vocals adapt quite nicely between the songs: warm and emotive on the ballads; spirited and humorous on other tracks.

The gentle piano on "Spoken Like A Man" is a lovely way to open the record. The mid-tempo love song is about the "little things" a man does to say I love you.

The second track was named British Country Music's Song of the Year for 2013. "He Don’t Show Her Anymore" is perhaps my favorite track on the record. It is a sadly beautiful ballad about a man who focuses on work instead of the one he loves. The little things he used to do are now a memory, from asking about her day to bringing her a gift: "He might say he loves her but he don't show her anymore."

"The Power of You and Me" is a song about choosing to continue a relationship, starting over or even ending it. Expressing that two people can rewrite their fairy tale if they would care "more about the two of us and less about ourselves.... we can make it all come true if we just believe in the power of me and you."

"Love To Watch You Leave" and "On Your Way Out" would fit right in played at the honky tonks on Broadway in Nashville. The former is about admiring a woman from behind. The latter is classic country song with piano, steel guitar, humor and a melody you will want to two step to. He sings "I won't miss the way you scream and shout, so make sure the door don't hit you on your way out." 

In "Dodge You Bullet" he sings about how he could not avoid falling in love with a woman. She turned the tables and captured his heart and although he tried, "This burning deep inside says I couldn't dodge your bullet." 

"Forget About You" has him remembering and regretting a past love when he sees her after some time. In "A Day I Find Love" he is thinking about the day when "a miracle will fall upon me, this loneliness will be lost far behind me."

"Live Each Day" will have you toe tapping along from the very first note. The song has very inspiring lyrics and a positive message, and is another personal favorite. "Live each day like it was your last/You can't see the future, can't change your past/You can only grab the moment of today."  

"Rewind," a melancholy, yet touching ballad, closes the album. In the song, he compares a relationship to a movie, one which has "a twist he didn't see coming."


4 Stars

For more information visit http://www.garyjpquinn.co.uk/home

You can follow Gary on Twitter @GaryQuinnMusic

Jennifer Nettles, one half of the duo Sugarland, is releasing her first solo album on Mercury Records. That Girl will hit retailers on January 14th. The album, produced by Rick Rubin, contains eleven tracks, all of which were either written or co-written by Jennifer, including her current single “That Girl.”

Jennifer has said in a statement that “I started writing this album three years ago. I put no conscious guides or governors on the creation of this album other than to write songs that I want to sing. Working with Rick Rubin was a dream come true and the result is an album that plays to my roots – country, 70’s radio, gospel and singer songwriter.” The listener can most definitely hear those roots on That Girl, along with island rhythms, soul, and blues.

As a fan of Sugarland, the single, “That Girl,” was not what I expected, but it peaked my curiosity as to what a full album would entail. Honestly, it took many a listen before I could truly appreciate That Girl. However, when you listen closely you will find an album full of touching, relatable stories told by a strong, emotive voice. These include songs about being the “other woman,” jealousy, finding happiness by being alone, old love and new love.

A lovely, gentle guitar opens the first track of the album, “Falling.”  The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a first summer love: “ I watched as you were leaving/The leaves were dancing oranges and reds/They circled all around me like confetti on fire/They were nothing when compared to the burning in my head.” As piano and drums join in, her voice soars to remember her first time and how “Every year when the leaves appear/Your memory comes sweet and clear/I never will forget you/And I never did regret you.” Beautiful.

“Me Without You” describes the peace that can be found in ending a relationship. With lyrics like, “I don’t know this road I’m on or where it’s leading to/But I know I’m gonna be alright/The more I see the more I like me/without you,” the song is an empowering one for women reminding us that being on our own can be okay.

“Moneyball” and “Jealousy” are two of the few up tempo tracks on the album. The former, with its jazzy melody, is about how fast life goes and how “A thousand years of passing we’ll be memories and food for the grass.” “Jealousy” pairs a breezy 70’s flavored melody with killer lyrics like “I didn’t really mean/To cause such an ugly scene/Showing up at your house/Half drunk and crazy bitch/I called you out.”

“This Angel” sonically reminds me of Joan Osborne’s “One Of Us.” A beautifully sung, string filled ballad about finding a person who will “shake me” permitting “life to begin,” welcoming hope and love.

“Thank You,” a favorite track on the record, speaks of someone in life who has helped her grow, touched, blessed and loved her.  “A lifetime to count the ways wouldn’t be enough to say I thought you should know how much you’ve helped me grow.” The song can remind us to appreciate the people in our lives who have impacted us and be a reminder to say “thank you.”

You can hear Jennifer’s many influences again on “This One’s For You.” Written with Sara Bareilles, this is a love song about wanting someone to know that “You are the rhythm/You are the rain/You are the music and melody/You’re the reason behind why there’s so many love songs…but this one’s for you.”

“Good Time to Cry” is about needing to move on from an old lover. “Pain only broken hearts know/When there’s more holding on/Then you have to let it go.”

Filled with piano, guitars and drums along with a rollicking old school melody & well written lyrics, “Know You Wanna Know” is infectious. Everybody wants to know everyone’s business all while claiming to be “above it all.”

The album concludes with a cover of the Bob Seger classic “Like A Rock.”

That Girl will be available January 14th

4 Stars

Jon Pardi’s debut album has been a long time coming, but it is finally here. Today, January 14th Write You A Song is being released on Capitol Records Nashville. Jon wrote all but one track on the record and co-produced the album along with Bart Butler. The album contains eleven songs including the single “Missin’ You Crazy” and his hit “Up All Night,” currently at #13 on the charts. The songs deal with topics familiar to country music such as life on the road, drinking, love and breakups. Their stories are told by Jon’s unique voice in an undeniably good debut album. You can hear his influences aplenty, especially the Bakersfield sound of his native California, in an album that is not lacking in fiddle, steel guitar and piano.

Opening the record is “What I Can’t Put Down” a country rocker about picking up habits, from whiskey to cigarettes to a woman, or in the final verse, his guitar, which is the one thing he “finally got one right.”

“That Man” is a true, heartfelt ballad with swoon worthy lyrics. “When u wanna be wanted/And you need to be needed/When you wanna to move on ‘cause you want somebody who’s nothing like he is/You know I’ve always been waiting/And I guess what I’m saying is /I am that man.”

“Happens All The Time” talks about love and it’s possibilities “We just might fall in love I hear it happens all the time.” “Love You From Here” will hook you with one of the “countriest” sounding, infectious, upbeat melodies you have heard in a long time. The song is about the end of a relationship, but he sings “just ‘cause you’re gone…I can still love you from here.”

“Chasin’ Them Better Days” and “Write You A Song” both deal with life on the road. The latter is a steel guitar and fiddle infused, high energy number about meeting women at different cities on the road without promising them anything more than hearing their name in a song. The former is a more reflective, yet still up tempo song, about working hard hoping that “Any second, any minute, any time/All my luck’s gonna turn in a dime.” The last minute and a half of the song is an instrumental where an old school piano and fiddle take center stage.

“Empty Beer Cans” is a country rocker in which he says goodbye to a flame, comparing to his now ex to draining him the way he drains a beer can. The lyrics in “Trash A Hotel Room,” about “getting back in touch” with a female friend, are a little raucous, but I found myself toe tapping and humming along.

The album closes with the irresistible, simple melody of “When I’ve Been Drinking” about a drunk dial call in which he maybe said “A little too much/You know I don’t think before I talk when I got a good buzz.”

Write You A Song is a cohesive package of country music that you’ll want to listen to again and again.

4 stars

Out Among The Stars is a new album comprised of twelve recently discovered Johnny Cash studio recordings that have never been heard before. The album is said to connect “the revolutionary rockabilly of his Sun Records years to the epochal final albums he made for American Recordings.”

Thirty years in the making, the tracks on Out Among The Stars were originally recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Columbia Studios in 1981 and 1111 Sound Studios in 1984. The songs were produced by Billy Sherrill and featured musicians including Marty Stewart and Jerry Kennedy and duets with June Carter Cash and Waylon Jennings.

“She Used To Love Me A Lot,” written by Dennis Morgan, Charles Quillen and Kye Fleming, is the first track to be released from the album. In this emotional ballad, Cash’s warm voice conveys the story of lost love and regret. 

“I thought she loved me with a love that wouldn’t die/Looking at her now I can’t believe she said goodbye/She just left me standing there I’ve never been so shocked/She used to love me a lot.”

In the current climate of country music, this song is a welcome change. But whether it will be embraced by a younger generation will have to be seen. However, it is definitely a must have for Johnny Cash fans and lovers of good music.

“She Used To Love Me A lot” is available here.

Out Among The Stars will be available March 25, 2014.

4.5stars

Joe Nichol’s album Crickets was released in October. Its first single “Sunny & 75” reached number one. Can he make it two in a row with the release of his second single, “YEAH?” It looks likely.

Joe has said that “YEAH,” which was written by Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson, was one of the first songs he cut for Crickets. The song deals with themes that we have come across before: a guy and a girl meeting in the country one night. But, instead of the guy wanting the girl to do something for him, it’s the guy who would do anything for the girl. He is so taken with her that she “is calling the shots tonight” and he will say “yeah” to everything, including liking her too fruity drinks to the “hippie” sounding song on her ipod.

“YEAH” has a cool groove that is easy to settle into with clever lyrics that are perfectly delivered.  

“Whatever you’re drinking, That’s what I’m drinking
Girl, you’re calling the shots tonight
Whatever you’re thinking, that’s what I’m thinking
Tell me what you got in mind
So I can say yeah, yeah
(yeah, yeah)”

4 stars

Visit www.joenichols.com for more information

The Swon Brothers, siblings Zach and Colton, first hit the national radar winning fans with their harmonies and personalities as finalists on Team Blake in Season 4 of NBC’s The Voice. Now the duo, signed to the Arista Nashville label, are releasing their first single to country radio titled “Later On.”

“Later On,” which was written by Ryan Hurd, Joey Hyde and Justin Wilson, seems like a definite radio hit. The story is a familiar one about a guy and a girl “getting to know each other out there in the moonlight glow.” However, the melody is incredibly catchy and the duo’s harmonies make the song shine. Zach’s lead vocals, bringing to mind Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band, deliver the lyrics genuinely and, dare I say, charmingly.

“You start sliding over
We can't get no closer
Ain’t no room in the middle
Girl, whatcha doin' a little later
Let's go start a fire
How ‘bout you and I
Get this thing moving, shaking, grooving
Baby, tell me what you’re doin'
Later on, later on, later on, later on, later on, later on”

The Swon Brothers are currently writing and securing songs for their major-label debut album, produced by Mark Bright, coming in 2014. “Later On” is available here.

4 stars

Watch their performance on The Voice below. For more information visit www.swonbrothers.com

Why do I get emotional when I hear Eric Church’s new single “Give Me Back My Hometown?” It’s not like the song is particularly deep or thought provoking. Perhaps it’s because like every Eric Church song, a picture is painted, a story is told and the vocals convey that story believably.  Eric is a true artist and one that puts everything he has into every song. He consistently makes music that, to me, never disappoints (yes, even including “The Outsiders”).

If you were worried that Eric was going to veer off and go completely heavy metal, “Give Me Back My Hometown” will put your mind at ease. The song is undeniably country with a highly relatable story. With its nostalgic theme, melody and “whoa yea yeas” the song is reminiscent of Eric’s biggest song to date (and an easy one to sing along to) “Springsteen.” And similarly, where that song paired a melody with a memory, this one pairs a look at a past love and how that memory affects him, especially in regards to his hometown. He sings:

 “All the colors of my youth/The red, the green, the hope, the truth/Are beaten’ me black and blue cause you’re in every scene………These sleepy street lights on every sidewalk, side street/They shed a light on everything that used to be/Give me back my hometown.”

It’s the place where he grew up, a place that should hold fond memories, but it has become tainted because she in every place he goes and everywhere he looks. You can hear emotions painful, angry and then pleading around the 2:00min mark when he sings that she can have everything if he just can have his hometown back.

“You can have my grandma’s locket/The knife out of my grandpa’s pocket
And my state champion jacket /I don’t care you can have it
Every made memory, every picture, every broken dream
Yeah everything, everything, everything”

Will “Give Me Back My Hometown” be a radio hit? I, for one certainly hope so, but it doesn’t really matter. Eric did not build his fan base on number ones. He built it on quality songwriting, storytelling and electric live performances. This song follows in that vein and I for one cannot wait to hear it live.

The single will be available January 14th.

5 stars

Brantley Gilbert’s deluxe edition of Halfway to Heaven was released back in September of 2011. Since then, members of his BG Nation have been anxiously awaiting new music. Well, the time has finally come. On December 17th, Gilbert released a new single “Bottoms Up.”  

Just like much of what is considered part of “bro-country,” this is another one of those songs that will keep the masses divided. Lyrically, there is nothing here that we haven’t heard before. The track has the themes that are prevalent in many country songs today: tailgates, trucks and drinking. However, “Bottoms Up” feels different. Although the song is still a country rocker complete with electric guitar solo, it is less hard edged than a typical Brantley Gilbert tune. It feels more relaxed due in part to both the melody, especially in the verses, and his vocals. When it comes on your radio, you might have a hard time resisting. Bottoms up.

“Let’s get a toast to the good times
All y’all get your drinks up high
Everybody feeling alright
Damn right
Cause tonight its bottoms up”

Brantley’s new record will be available sometime in 2014. "Bottoms Up" will impact radio on January 16th.


4stars

“I’m not sure I chose country music, in a way it kind of chose me,” explains Alabama native Glen Templeton. “I probably had ten or eleven jobs from the time I got out of high school until the time I finally moved to Nashville and I think I was probably fired ten or eleven times too! The thing is, the more jobs you lose, the less and less professional that next job becomes. That’s why I say I think country music kind of chose me. It just kept pulling on me, no matter what the cost was at the time.” 

Since he felt that pull, Glen has performed on tour with George Jones, appeared on CMT, The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman, and amassed a long list of regional performances. In September, he released a new single “Ball Cap.”

If you have satellite radio, you might be familiar with Glen’s latest single. “Ball Cap” is garnering a lot of airplay on The Highway as a Highway Find. Plain and simple, I love this song. From the initial drumbeat to the final note, “Ball Cap” will put you in a happy mood. It is a catchy as all get out, fun, get your body moving, sing along (and yes, all of those adjectives apply). It’s about a guy who loves it when his lady is “in a dress, always lookin’ her best” but can’t resist when she wears a certain “worn out hat I always wore turned back.”

“Baby got a ballcap on/Sure knows how to pull it off/Sun outta’ them hazel eyes/Lookin’ so good but she don’t try/Actin’ like its no big deal/Smilin’ underneath that bill/Lookin’ so right it’s wrong/Baby got a ball cap on”

Seriously try to resist this one.

4.5 stars