Concert Review – ‘An Evening with Vince Gill’ – August 10, 2013

I was witness to a major bucket list moment for the second time in four years Aug 10 – an in the round performance by Vince Gill at one of my favorite venues, The 2,250 seat South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA. With his full band in toe (including Paul Franklin and Dawn Sears, who sang, but held back on many songs, likely due to her ongoing cancer battle), he ran through a two and a half hour set that mixed his legendary recordings with the iconic numbers he and Franklin made their own onBakersfield.

I knew the night would be special when I bought the tickets last June, before I’d heard the album, or knew Franklin would join him. Gill is easily one of my favorite people in country music, a constant professional who can write, sing, play, and host with an ease that hasn’t been duplicated by any superstar that’s risen in his wake. He’s also the rare exception who’s only gotten better with age. Gill is as good (if not better) now at 57 then he was in his commercial prime more than twenty years ago.

He opened with the weary “One More Last Chance” before launching into “Take Your Memory With You.” Gill then preceded “High Lonesome Sound” with the joke that if you want to win a Grammy Alison Krauss should play on your song, a bit of irony seeing as he’s as much a Grammy magnet as Krauss. “Pocket Full of Gold” came in tribute to the cheaters as Gill wanted to know who he should look at while he sings.

His set, billed as an “Evening With Vince Gill,” was broken into two segments, bookending a 25-minute intermission to sell merchandise and beer. He spent a lot of time in the first act on his admiration for songwriter Max D. Barnes, complementing his talent on “Chiseled In Stone” and “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.” A detour into sad songs led to a childhood memory of his dad singing “Old Shep” to him, before he told of the writing session behind “Look At Us,” a would be weeper that Barnes had Gill flip around to extenuate the positive. One of my favorite of his recordings, he sang it with beautiful precision while Franklin made the steel solo come alive. Another favorite was “Old Lucky Diamond Motel,” a Guitar Slinger album cut that I was glad he brought out.

What surprised me the most about the whole show was how little emphasis was placed on Bakersfield. They closed the first half with the requisite five songs an artist usually plays from their newest release, but they almost felt like an afterthought, when they should’ve been the main attraction. They opened this portion with Owens’ “Foolin’ Around” before gracing us with their timely cover of Haggard’s “The Fighting Side of Me,” which was a little loud, but excellent. His odes to Emmylou Harris – “The Bottle Let Me Down” and “Together Again” were stellar, but I got the most joy from “I Can’t Be Myself,” which is as perfect a lyric as I’ve ever heard. “Together Again” had the right amount of steel, but “I Can’t Be Myself” was the winner of the Bakersfield songs.

Gill opened the second half with “What The Cowgirls Do,” another of my least favorites, but won redemption with “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away.” He was more musically focused and thus didn’t interact as much this time around, but with his catalog front and center, that didn’t matter. I was surprised when he went way back into that catalog and pulled out “Never Alone” and the breakneck “Oklahoma Borderline,” which he flubbed a little lyrically (it was funny to watch him reading the lyrics from a monitor). Both were good, but I wasn’t as familiar with the latter as I would’ve liked to have been.

The highlights were a mix of both expected and somewhat surprising. Gill brought out his usual greatness on “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” but it was an out of nowhere “What You Give Away” that threw me. I had forgotten about that single, a top 30 hit from 2006, and was pleased when an audience member had requested it. He was also great on “Pretty Little Adriana,” “Trying to Get Over You,” and show closer “Whenever You Come Around.”

As intricately specialized as Gill is, the show wasn’t without a couple of minor cracks. Frankly, I would’ve killed for a little more experimentation. Gill and the band was almost too tight a unit, too perfect. The show would’ve been even stronger had they reworked some of Gill’s classics in the Bakersfield Sound, like he did with “Go Rest High On That Mountain” in the wake of Kitty Wells’ passing last year. Franklin, meanwhile, was regulated as the onstage steel player, thus he didn’t talk at all – the album was as much his project as Gill’s, so it wouldn’t have hurt to hear him talk about the music from his perspective. I didn’t expect his presence to feel like just another member of the band, and it was jarring seeing as Bakersfield was a collaborative album.

But that doesn’t excuse the fact that Gill put on an incredible show from start to finish that’s a must see for any country music fan. In thinking about his place in music, I would put Gill up there with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney as an icon who may not be as transcendent as those rock pioneers, be he’s arguably just as important to the genre he’s helped shape for the better part of the last thirty-five years.

Album Review – Kiley Evans – ‘2 Pieces of 3 Hearts’

Kiley Evans

2 Pieces of 3 Hearts

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Marshfield, Massachusetts native Kiley Evans has come a long way from her days studying engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Since forgoing her college degree for the lure of a guitar, she’s participated in Bluebird Café in-the-round performances with Luke Laird and written with Stoughton, MA native Lori McKenna. Evans and McKenna recently shared a stage in Martha’s Vineyard, and she’s performed multiple dates with fellow rising country star and American Idol finalist Ayla Brown.

Evans recently released her debut album, three years in the making. 2 Pieces of 3 Hearts is a hybrid project comprised of her 2011 Kiley Evans EP and five newer songs (i.e. “2 Pieces”) she’s debuted at various concert dates. Evans had made waves here on the South Shore but also in Rhode Island – local country station Cat Country 98.1 WCTK plays her music on a regular basis, as does 95.9 WATD, where I intern. Evans has been a frequent guest of their Almost Famous local music show, where she’s graced their Tiny Stage and showed up on their playlists.

I’ve long been looking forward to this release since Almost Famous co-DJ John Shea brought her music to my attention a few years ago. I attended a show last fall, and caught her again this past spring. Evans has an every girl personality that endears her to fans and simple songs that offer a peak inside her world.

I’ve been most excited to get my hands on the CD for “Free Fallin,’” a solo composition that’s among my favorite songs she’s ever done. She sings about a phenomenon we’ve all experienced – that moment when we finally hear a song for the first time, fully understanding a lyric we’d known forever but never really listened to (the track in question here is, of course, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers classic):

I never really understood

I never really listened right

I’m singing ‘Free Fallin’ all the way home tonight

I never really heard the music

I never really saw the light

I’m singing ‘Free Fallin’ all the way home tonight

Also excellent is “One More Spin Around,” written about a woman who falls for a guy at a party who ends up giving her a ride home. She pretends she can’t find her keys in an effort to stall their inevitable goodbye, and they take multiple spins around the neighborhood. I love the sunny vibe and electric guitar riffs that frame Evans’ high-energy vocal. “Devil On Your Soldier” is sonically similar and just as good, although there’s more going on in the production.

She displays her vocal prowess again on 2 Pieces of 3 Hearts lead single “Easy,” which adds an element of blues into her country repertoire. The production track is a tad busy, but Evans pushes through with a stunningly confident vocal reminiscent of Christina Aguilera that adds another dimension to her artistic wheelhouse. She continues in this vein with “Tuck & Roll,” a perfectly composed tale about being played in a relationship.

Evans continues to stretch and grow on “We’d Be Lying,” a sexy love song that could’ve easily been a force attempt at creating a moment, but works surprisingly well. The gorgeous ribbons of piano nicely frame her delicate vocal, and Boston-based singer-guitarist Joe Merrick is a delight as Evans’ duet partner.

The most exciting aspect of the album is the melding of old and new, allowing the listener to fully grasp Evans’ maturity as an artist over the past few years. “Easy” and “We’d Be Lying” show just how far she’s come since the days of “Johnny Depp” and “Not Today,” which are both included here. Both of those now vintage songs hold up well against the newer material. The chorus of “Johnny Depp” is what hooked me in the beginning and its still one of Evans’ most memorable compositions. Mid-tempo ballad “Not Today” is even better, showcasing Evans’ ability to craft songs that are instantly relatable. Her ability to write relationship songs that appeal to everyone is one of her greatest assets.

Evans thankfully also understands that life is more than romance and adds depth to the project with “Papa’s Song,” a tribute to her grandfather that’s a bare bones moment of reflection and the record’s emotional centerpiece. If there’s any doubt as to Evans’ country credibility, “Papa’s Song” puts it all to rest. There’s brilliance in her emotional intimacy that’s breathtaking – she bares her soul in the way only the best singer/songwriters are able. It’s worth the price of the album to hear her share this moment with us.

Evans announced this week she’s moving to Nashville to make her dream a reality, which makes 2 Pieces of 3 Hearts even more special. She’s definitely going to be missed around the South Shore, but she leaves us with a wonderful collection of songs that stand as an argument for her bright future. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

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For more information on Kiley Evans, and to buy a physical copy of 2 Pieces of 3 Hearts, check out her website

The album is also available on iTunes.

Country Music’s Next Great Renaissance: The unthinkable success of Florida Georgia Line’s ‘Cruise’

2013 in country music:

• Vince Gill and Paul Franklin release the sublime Bakersfield

• Alan Jackson treats his fans to his long-awaited bluegrass record

• Florida Georgia Line’s single “Cruise” surpasses Hank Snow’s “I’m Moving On” to become the longest #1 in the history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, breaking a 63 year record

Wait, what? You read that right, folks. 2013 will forever be known as the year mainstream country music officially went to the dogs. I don’t even know how to begin expressing my anger, hiding my palpable sadness, or getting over a turn of events that marks the most significant failure in the history of country music.

So, why is this so bad? A popular song, that the public is responding to with open arms (5 million + downloads), has reaped the ultimate reward for its mammoth success – tenure at the top so rock solid, not even Taylor Swift can dislodge it. But isn’t that what it’s all about, being rewarded for your success? I mean, aren’t records meant to be broken at some point anyways?

Yes, all that is true. But it isn’t about breaking the record; it’s how the record was broken. In this case it came last October when Billboard significantly changed the way song ranks were calculated on the Hot Country Songs Chart. Instead of only factoring in radio airplay from country stations, data from streaming services downloads of songs, and airplay for country singles on pop stations were now in the running to determine where a song would place on the chart. A separate Country Airplay chart was created to stand in addition to the old chart with new rules.

Factoring in streaming data and song downloads is fine. It is 2013 after all. Music doesn’t come solely from the radio anymore. But they went a step further – when a country single crosses over to ‘the pop world’ and charts, that data is factored in, too. And thanks to a pop/rap remix featuring rapper Nelly, you now have the phenomenon that’s going on with “Cruise.” In other words, a song can log multiple weeks at #1 on the Hot Country Song chart without any significant airplay within the format.

So, Hank Snow was dislodged from the top by a song featuring a guest rapper that took full advantage of a chart that recently changed its rules. That’s my first issue with this “accomplishment.” On Engine 145 the other day, I commented that this record (which wasn’t broken at the time) meant nothing simply because of the chart tweak. If it had happened this time last year, obviously under the old rules, then I would have no problem at all. At least then it would’ve been fair game.

Garth Brooks accomplished something similar six years ago when his “More Than A Memory” single became the first country song ever to debut on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at #1. Did I cry fowl? No, I didn’t. At the time, it didn’t feel like country music was selling out, even if, (allegedly) Clear Channel had a hand in getting the song played each hour for a week. It was just Brooks breaking yet another record on a chart that was equal opportunity for everyone.

This new Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart is so easy to manipulate it’s scary. Scott Borchetta, the mastermind at Big Machine Label Group, is currently the only one greedy enough to see this, the only label exec who’s conscience is suppressed deep enough to change the course of country music and not give a crap about how he is impacting the greater good of the genre. If we’ve learned anything from Hollywood celebrities and politicians, its money is the route of all evil, and people will stop at nothing to pocket big.

My other issue is the quality of the song. Is it really too much to ask for the song breaking the record to feature even a hint of artistic merit? J.R. Journey said it best last December:

“The only thing worse than this pair of deebags hitting a major breakthrough in their career with a piece of drivel like this will be the countless deebags-in-training that will be inspired to emulate Florida Georgia Line’s success. From the butchered grammar lyrics to the singers’ affected twang and dog tags around their necks, these guys are a legit training manual on how to be scuzzy deebag losers.”

I shudder to think about the doors being opened by the success of “Cruise.” Like “On The Other Hand” and “Any Man of Mine” before it, we’re likely in the middle of the next great renaissance in country music. But instead of eliciting excitement, I only feel dirty. “Cruise” marks the first time a cult song was met with such success and that’s most dangerous of all. Trailer Choir’s “Rockin’ The Beer Gut” was arguably just as big a fan hit, but country radio knew enough to spit it out before it got even half this big. Now there’s no telling what kinds of songs will be heard from radio speakers in the years to come.

Any historian with half a brain will look back at this and wonder – how do you go from “I’m Moving On” to “Cruise?” In those sixty-three years country music stopped evolving and outright changed. The closet pre-cursor to a track like “Cruise” is “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” but even the Charlie Daniels Band classic was loaded with equal parts sincerity and shredded fiddle. Country Universe’s Dan Milliken can believe, “love it, hate it, or tolerate it, the one thing “Cruise” undeniably had going for it was a mighty hook,” all he wants. But good or bad hooks aside; it doesn’t alter the fact that “Cruise” is the new benchmark for success in mainstream country. Lord help and save us all.