N.A.S.H. (ville)
All kidding aside, there really is plenty of interesting music coming out of even the most commercial corners of the industry. The Backlog cont.
Onwards we march.
Eleven albums. One big part of the system.
1. Dalton Dover
If you want to hear an artist with incredible versatility, but zero identity manage to make an album with the sole intent to successfully demonstrate every single trendy sound burning its way through Nashville at this given moment, then the Dalton Dover record is for you. Similar to a talented contestant on a singing show, Dover has not defined his own personal sound. However all of the styles he is asked to perform are impeccably executed. Quite literally every song on this project sound like a demo from a top tier Nashville star. Night To Go sounds like an album cut off a Luke Combs song. Baby I Am is a Brett Young love song special. You Got A Small Town is pure Jason Aldean right down to the synthetic drum loop for the low part and the chorus of blaring guitars. Dirt Roads and Jesus sounds like a discarded Morgan Wallen track. It really is a potpourrie of everything currently in the Nashville meta. Honestly, just listen to this album and ignore the Hot Country Spotify playlist/radio because Dover does a better job on these styles then most. Straight up some of the best vocal chops I've heard all year long.
2. Riley Green
Speaking of becoming the next big thing, it feels like Riley Green has perpetually been falling just short of taking a big step forward. He seemed on the verge of blowing up in 2018, and has built up a rabid fanbase, and yet he does not seem to have elevated his game to the next level.
Anyhow, I enjoy how the sentiments that Riley Green preaches are delivered, it feels true to self. Also usually it’s accompanied by an energetic, muscular, traditionally styled organic country sound. I understand that it attracts fans, but it sorta feels that the last five years of Green have added up to a 45 song album dedicated to the singular theme of I am Southern, old school, and country.
Look, there certainly are some nicely done songs on here. Riley has a great voice, he has charisma, he has really good ear for what works, and throughly understands his wheelhouse. The final result is still enjoyable, in the "I would turn it on in the car if I wasn’t interested in paying too much attention" kind of way. Maybe he succeeded what he was going for, but if you wished for any sort of growth, it doesn’t really seem like it’s here. Like a former number one prospect who failed to live up to his star potential, but still ends up being a solid role player, you just need to accept him for what he is, not what you wanted him to be.
3) Caitlyn Smith
For whatever reason, Caitlyn Smith has turned into the one pop-country act that everyone, including traditional country fans, can get on board with. Pair top-tier vocal work that isn't simply a vocal showcase, add that to a nuanced tone and mature presentation and it quickly becomes clear just why she has such a following in the critical space. All the positive aspects of her artistry remain true with this current project, but it did feel like it was lacking the particular je ne se quoi that keeps it out of the top-tier, even for pop country. It is a step back relative to the heights of her prior work, but still one which is far ahead artistic wise, of most in her subgenre.
4. Darius Rucker
This album has been a long time coming. His last album was in 2017, and especially with his singles sputtering, it would have been smart to release an album in 2019 or 2020. His fame was past his peak at that point, but Wagon Wheel was still ubiquitous, and he was still recognized as being on top of the national stage. However he chose that year to have a reunion album and tour with Hootie & the Blowfish, pushing off the country album follow up for 2020. One pandemic later, it was for 2021. He even had a number one single ready to kick things off. However the second single crashed, life happened and now all of a sudden it's 2023- six years later. Large chunks of the album were recorded this entire period. Naturally, this causes a problem for an artist whose main artistic persona is tied towards being mainstream country, just with a more mature perspective. Because the album clearly has been assembled over the last four years, every single trend that has came and gone in that span is present on some part of this project. It feels disjointed and Frankenstein.
It isn't some radical departure from the Darius Rucker you know. He still has his delightfully warm tone anchored by mostly real instruments and a slight twinkle in his eye. Good cheer all throughout. The Darius Rucker that the country world fell in love with throughout the late ‘00s and early ‘10s is still there in spades.
The promise of the record is a more family oriented concept anchored around his late mother. And in parts, you can feel that! It isn't a concept record by any stretch, but there are glimpses. Unfortunately, those components are served alongside either just generic album cuts and/or more egregious framing issues. Large swaths of the album seem stuck in a 35 year old millennial perspective (to be fair, that easily could be the exact demographic of his writers and audience). That doesn't land so well when you realize Rucker is closer to Social Security eligibility then he is from turning fifty. The basic love, breakup, hook up songs don't quite land as well when Grandpa’s behind the mic. Instead, I would've hoped that Rucker would use his maturity to provide a mature perspective that is rarely heard on the radio waves of youth obsessed mainstream Nashville. There is still plenty here to like. It just didn't live up to the press release promises. Sometimes I get suckered into getting hyped by those and I should really learn my lesson.
5) Vince Gill
In 2013, Vince Gill was a spry 56 year old, one year younger than Darius Rucker is now, and he was long past his commercial prime. He put out a fantastic record that year, entitled Bakersfield with Paul Franklin- perhaps the greatest steel player of our era. It was a tribute to the music Vince grew up on and brought some of that music to the forefront of the culture. Or at least for those that still listened to Vince Gill in 2013. I find the contrast between a passion project of that magnitude being released by Gill placed alongside with the mostly passionless project released by Rucker right around the same same age to be indicative of, well something for sure. Not entirely sure how to finish off the metaphor, but there's something there about knowing thine self.
Now ten years later, Gill returns, now more gray at sixty-six to wax poetic about Ray Price. Paul Franklin, still the greatest steel player of the generation, is here to accompany this delightful slice old-school country.
Reaching backwards and resuscitating the old classics shows you both how far we've come and also what we chucked out alongside the bathwater. Easily the biggest thing you notice is the simplicity. Old-school country was usually not complex lyrically, and it relied heavily on the nuanced vocal performance of the singer to bring forth the meaning and emotion implicit in the song. These days, there's such a focus on writing that often melody is left to some breathy monotone with a little bit of yelling here and there. The contrast is delightful. As are Gill and Franklin. They haven't lost a step since 2013, and they admirably perform these old classics and do them justice. Hopefully it can lead to some sort of revival in awareness for Ray Price.
6) Larry Fleet
This is another artist that has been around amassing a following for a couple of years now. He had a minor hit a few years back with Where I Find God and since then has been on the periphery of my listening. I had only listened to a couple of his singles and never indulged an entire album. Pity, because in spite of the lengthy hour and 14 minute long run time, I really enjoyed the album.
Fleet is in his mid to late thirties and unlike many artists in that age bracket, doesn’t try to make his music younger than he is (ie. Dustin Lynch being thirty eight). It isn't that thirty five is considered middle-aged, but in a context where the fellow has been married for ten years, has two kids, and has been a career musician for nearly fifteen years, it allows for a veteran presence, a sense of ease and a sense of comfort in who he is as an artist. That all comes through behind the microphone.
Also due credit here is Joey Moi. He has really turned a corner in the past couple of years fusing his sense of rhythm from his rock past with a new understanding of country texture, and specifically in the proper accompaniment need to create the proper atmosphere in serious and mature country music. There is a lot of soft and dusty sounds within the mix, both with the guitars as well as the percussion.
I keep on coming back to the word "mature" because that really is the overarching thought that emerges from this project. The topics of conversation on this record are internal conversations and feelings that Fleet himself has, whether that be gratitude, reflection, satisfaction, happiness, or regret. Each of these is approached from the perspective of one who has settled down. There's an appreciation for that reckless period of his life, for the "devil music" that inspired him in his younger years, but that’s discussed entirely in contrast with his settled down sedate life that he is loving now. It makes a very appealing and comfortable listen.
There's a lot of religious references all throughout which certainly seems to fit his personality. He seems to be a man of faith, and that permeats in his life, both when he wasn’t as active a participant in his religious tradition - and that was why he was “left for Jesus" by an ex-girlfriend- and also in his current day, where he is very thankful for religion and faith in his day to day life. It all feels very apropos, considering the manner in which was discovered as an artist was weekly Sunday uploads to his social media pages of him covering gospel songs. Combine that with his first hit song being Where I Find God and it all feels very on point. Importantly it does not come through as "oh, this is a gospel record", but instead simply as a lifestyle description of which faith is a component no more then love, nostalgia, or grief. I think this overall emotional cohesion, with all the various aspects of life put together into music that makes this project nearly justify the run time. It is really far too long.
7) Boy Named Banjo
With a name like this, you might expect it to be some sort of ye olde tyme string band. Or at least a super artistic independent outfit. Nope, but there certainly is banjo. I would liken this group to Mumford & Sons rock era but still with copious amounts of banjo. It’s good. Well executed. Pleasing on the ears. Never reaches past mild moments to build and coalesce into something bigger, but still, fine songs up and down the record.
8. Lauren Watkins
I've listened to a lot of EP‘s this year. It happens to be that a half hour or shorter record fits a busy schedule better than hour and a half long double albums. I'm sure it isn't just me that feels that way. Watkins has very enjoyable voice. I want to especially point out the low end of her register which has resonance and warmth. She can project, but also soften in areas. Such finesse in the lower register is tough for female artists, especially early on in their careers.
It is made very clear from the marketing that she is directly aiming towards the mainstream commercial market. There is clear radio bait here. Specifically Fine County Line and Stuck In My Ways. The Carter Faith duet is the obvious standout here. Jealous Of Jane is a well done premise and is performed well, but let down by production stylings. The Worthington feature is interesting, but I don't like how the voices mesh. The potential is very clear, even if song choices aren't great. This is her business card and I think it will be effective. She has the persona and tone that makes her stand out of the pack. I guess you could say this EP truly introduces us to Lauren Watkins.
9. Chase Rice
I probably should've given this one another listen before saying anything particularly definitive. However, my murky impressions from earlier in the year listening seem that the Rorschach Test of the album has nothing to do with what Rice is saying in his music. Nor does it have all that much to do with the more rustic and organic production choices. It all had to do with if/how you believe the premises of the presentation. It is not hard to recall a couple of years ago when Chase Rice was full on snap track, enjoying hits like Eyes On You. A lull period followed, and then came the "oh, I’m in the best shape of my life, here's the brand new me" headlines.
Authenticity is a very hard thing to sell, especially when it is presented as part of a drastic change. Also, cultural context matters, so given the current popularity of shows like Yellowstone, it further weakens credulity. At least to some. Others are fully in. To each their own. Personally, after listening to the album, I'm not fully sold. It just seems unlikely that a previously transparently commercial artist just so happened to have found his authentic true self, which luckily aligned very neatly with the trends du jour.
10) Bailey Zimmerman
Hmmmm... I still don't get the hype. Bailey Zimmerman‘s first full length album takes his EP from last year and expands it to about an hour. Almost all break up themed with the main differences being the little twists in each song. Sometimes he’s surprised, other times he sees it coming. Sometimes disappointed, sometimes optimistic. There is some nice wordplay here and there, but again all devoted to the same old topic. Whoever the girl that ticked off Bailey Zimmerman by breaking up with him a couple years ago now has plenty of music dedicated to her memory. No, I don't consider the odd one-off Johnny Cash cover be sufficient topical diversity.
It’s interesting. Typically you'd think albums that have a wide range of appeal and assume a wider range of topics and genre styles would gain larger audience share. This is a likely theory behind why Morgan Wallen is so appealing. He really has three or four different albums, topics, genres etc all packaged into his behemoth releases. Bailey doesn't do this at all and yet is streaming and selling incredibly well. Ironically, he embodies the critique often wrongly leveled at Luke Combs for just singing about the same old topic.
Presumably the reason why he doesn’t receive a negative penalty for this "offense", is a combination of a few reasons. One of them is that large chunks of his appeal is driven through social media interactions and content, far more than the vine driven popularity of Luke Combs. Whereas by the first generation of social media driven artists, the music and content was what pushed them to the forefront, now it is personality. Note that Bailey and Lainey Wilson have thrived in this new atmosphere, and many other artists who play the commercial game still struggle at creating social media buzz. It might be better for your mental health to touch grass, but if you want to convert sales, you kinda sorta need to engage with the internet.
Secondly, he is not overexposed with multiple albums of the same material. I would be curious about the future. If he keeps trying to continue what has worked for him in the past, he may hit some future point of overexposure.
Lastly, execution is always the most important thing, and Zimmerman does that very well. He has an interesting ear for melody. Some of the vocal styling and melodic framing is cribbed from pop punk. There are some spots where you half expect the song to be tuned to drop-D. The overall result ends up with an updated genre palate that still is primarily composed of a mixture of standard radio country elements - blaring guitars, booming drums- and slight traditional touches enhancing the sense of presentation- steel, violin, etc. I wish it did more with the thematic material, because the atmosphere and instrumental work truly begs to be melded with higher concept themes and ideas.
11. Tim McGraw
I greatly enjoy when artists release follow up or companion EP’s instead of releasing deluxe albums. I guess it’s not as good for streaming, but from an artistic standpoint it makes a lot more sense. Tim McGraw released his album only earlier this year to not much fanfare, it does not have the buzz that prior albums of his did. I will grant it was decent. I reviewed during September and frankly it felt directionless even though it had good songs all throughout.
This is often the case from mainstream projects and not a unique criticism of McGraw. However, someone at Tim McGraw‘s age and massive depth of discography needs newer projects to stand out. Vision and direction would be quite useful.
Album aside, this EP really comes to the forefront with a very mature backwards looking perspective. McGraw tapped Nashville finest writers for this project and it shows. It isn't just that the songs are good, although they are. It is that the songs are eminently suited for McGraw. Take a song like 20 For 30, or Poet's Resumé, or Hurt People. They all stand out for the clear perspective and elder statesmen wisdom within these songs.
It has always been the case that Tim McGraw‘s best material has been backwards looking. McGraw is keenly aware of that and elected to try to kick off this album era with the Stephen Covey Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People inspired track Standing Room Only. The EP is a carefully curated and far better executed extension of that vision. Honestly, skip the album and just listen to the EP. It’s a lot better.
Thank you for reading. The Backlog will continue onwards. Certainly throughout next week. Final totals have not been finalized on the amount of reviews that happen. Rest assured, there will be a big final end of year piece with some lists, categories, awards, and so forth.
As always, if you want to reach out, leave a comment or email at todayiheardblog@gmail.com
Joe