EP Review: Yes Dear – ‘Yes Dear’

Yes Dear

Yes Dear

****

Yes Dear is an acoustic trio formed in Nashville, TN whose members each have an impressive back story. Lead Vocalist Joey Boone released his debut album at 16 and spent the better part of the late 1990s working with country songwriters such as Bobby Emmons and Johnny Christopher. Rhythm Guitarist Josh Jackson fronted a namesake rock band and garnered critical acclaim from The Nashville Scene Critics Poll and Rolling Stone Magazine. Multi- Instrumentalist Locke Sandahl was the lead guitarist in Jackson’s band.

The band released their eponymous debut album last December. It’s an eight-song collection bursting with tight-knit harmonies framed by Steve Gibson’s warm and inviting production.

The EP is at its strongest when the band blends their harmonies with ear pleasing organic production. Two fine examples bookend the album, perfectly showcasing the band’s tight synchronicity. They open with the surprisingly sunny “Baby Don’t Go,” about a man pleading with his woman not to leave. They close the album even stronger, with the exquisite bluegrass romp “Train Bound for Anywhere.” The track, my favorite on the album, marries together a winning lyric with Gibson’s crisp mandolin and banjo-drenched production.

“Rusty Old American Dream” is an excellent love song told from the prospective of a very used 1950s car looking for a new home. The lyric is a magical slice of songwriting gold, framed in a plucky arrangement that perfectly captures the hopefulness within the story.

“If You Weren’t Here Today” rests on a sarcastic response to a nagging girlfriend. The concept is nothing new but they cleverly (and subtly) approach it in a three-act story that paints a clear picture of the guy’s growing distain.

“Rosa” shows a more contemporary side of the band. The track employs more of a pop leaning sound with a fuller production that leaves ample room for the lyric, about a girl wanting to spread her wings, to remain the central focus.

The chorus is slightly underdeveloped on the funky “Na Na,” which has a very appealing groove and more of the band’s signature harmonies. The story, which becomes topical in the second verse, is also very strong.

Among the eight tracks on Yes Dear are two outstanding ballads. “Somebody Like You,” about the joys of being in a healthy relationship, would easily come off saccharine or cutesy in lesser hands. They avoid it with their palpable sincerity, which gives the story a genuine feel. “Things That Little Girls Do,” in which a father is observing the innocent behaviors of his daughter, is a stunning showcase of authentic emotion.

Yes Dear is the perfect introduction to a fresh talent on the independent country music scene. I highly recommend checking them out and look forward to whatever they plan to do musically in the years to come.

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For more information on Yes Dear: Website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

To purchase their EP, check them out on iTunes

Christa Gniadek needs your help

Christa Gniadek is one of the most talented country singers based here in The South Shore of Massachusetts. I was introduced to her by a friend who knew I would love her music as much as he does. He was right. After listening to her album, Leaving Boston, it was my pleasure to review it.

She now needs our help to get her new album, Hard Summer, off the ground. Gniadek has turned to Kickstarter because, as she says, “my absolute favorite thing to do – all I want to do – is share my music with the people.” This is our chance to insure she fulfills her mission.

I know first hand how appreciative artists are when their projects are funded. In April, I met Suzy Bogguss at her show at TCAN in Natick, MA. She was very thankful that I’d helped to fund her Merle Haggard tribute album, Lucky. Seeing how appreciative she was for the support made my contribution feel even more important.

Even if you’re never able to meet Gniadek in person, I can attest that this album is everything to her. To have the ability to record it, would be a dream come true.

Let’s do our part to make Hard Summer the reality it deserves to be. The November 17 deadline is fast approaching. Let’s get this done! I have zero doubts that Hard Summer will be every bit as wonderful as Leaving Boston.

To help fund the album: http://kck.st/1kRbvs6

For more info on Christa Gniadek: http://bit.ly/1HLAhPC

Album Review: Tim McGraw – ‘Damn Country Music’

Tim McGraw

Damn Country Music

**

Tim McGraw’s fourteenth album, Damn Country Music, is his third release for Big Machine Records in as many years. Like the majority of his work, McGraw co-produced the album with Byron Gallimore.

Lead single “Top of the World” currently sits just inside the top ten. The sweeping ballad is a pop confection, complete with beats surrounding McGraw’s smooth voice. He’s done better, but he’s also given us far worse.

McGraw previewed the title track in lead up to the album’s release. “Damn Country Music” is a chase your dreams in the music industry song, set to a somewhat cluttered unmistakably country arrangement. I really like the message that no matter what, life always circles back to the same thing:

It’s the hum of wheels on a blacktop

The strum of strings on a flat top

It’ll take you, break you

Damn sure, make you

Do things; you never thought you’d be doing

Damn country music

Rodney Clawson scored three co-writes on the album. “Losin’ You” is a progressive laundry list pop ballad about all the places he keeps losing the woman who already broke up with him. “Want You Back” is more of the same, but this time he’s begging his girl to come back home. “California” is the most ‘country’ of the three, but the arrangement is so progressive, you’d never know it. The track features Big & Rich, but their ‘contributions’ are basically inaudible.

“Here Tonight,” the other duet, features his eldest daughter eighteen-year-old Gracie, the front woman of alt-rock band Tingo. It’s very good, although McGraw and Gallimore should’ve stripped away the wailing guitars to reveal the organic charm underneath.

I first heard “Humble and Kind” when Little Big Town brought Lori McKenna on stage to sing it at a local concert last year (McKenna lives in my area and has even appeared on the radio station where I assist with the morning news show). The song is excellent and I like what McGraw has done with it. I only wish the key could’ve been moved up so McGraw could sing in a more pleasing place in his voice. As it stands, he doesn’t have the vocal to carry the song.

“How I’ll Always Be” is one of the more charming songs, with a shuffle arrangement echoing “Just To See You Smile.” The latter blows the former out of the water, but at least McGraw gives us one track that tries to retain some hint of country music.

I can hear how “Love Does” would’ve easily fit into an early 2000s context, but the proceedings are ruined by a clubby arrangement and processed vocal that renders McGraw almost unrecognizable. “What You’re Looking For” is just more of the same.

What isn’t more of the same is “Don’t Make Me Feel At Home,” the only track on the album that is unmistakably country music through and through. The arrangement is crap, but the obvious country elements shine through loud and clear. In the late 1990s, this tune about a guy begging to be loved would’ve been clean, sharp and a multi-week chart topper. As it stands right now, the track is just too cluttered.

Damn Country Music, despite its title, is country music by association only. Tim McGraw has made a progressive pop record, and a bad one at that. I’m sick of him showing his gravelly side dressed up with gritty gruff guitars. I’m sick of the processed vocals and watered down vibe he continues to go for. McGraw should’ve been at the CMAs to watch Chris Stapleton execute this style correctly. Let the new guy teach the old guy how its done.

Album Review: Carrie Underwood – ‘Storyteller’

Carrie Underwood

Storyteller

** 1/2 

Of all the criticisms I can level at mainstream country this year, the most unnerving is the brazen shamelessness of artists who’ve gone out of their way to change everything they’re about in order to chase a bigger high that doesn’t exist. More than adapting to changing trends, artists like Zac Brown Band and The Band Perry have abandoned their earnestness and sold their souls to Scott Borchetta, who interfered with their artistry in order to fill his pockets.

Carrie Underwood, luckily, isn’t on the Big Machine Label Group. That being said, I was still nervous about the direction of Storyteller. To compete in a tomato-smeared world, how much would she have to veer from the sound that made her a household name?

As much as I admire Underwood’s music, I cannot help but feel her output has been geared toward the right now, with songs that don’t stand the test of time. A lot of her music, especially the rockers, just isn’t strong enough to carry the nostalgia we now feel for the 1990s country we all love. She’s an incredible vocalist, and when she’s on point, no one can hold a candle to her.

That’s why I’m always excited when she releases new music. I’m even more pleased she and Arista Nashville added Jay Joyce and Zach Crowell as producers alongside Mark Bright. Underwood and Bright have been a well-oiled machine going on ten years, but it’s time to change it up for the sake of variety.

Our first taste of the switch-up is the Joyce produced “Smoke Break,” a rocker Underwood co-wrote with Chris DeStefano and Hillary Lindsay. It’s easily one of the most country songs on the radio right now, with Underwood’s natural twang carrying the somewhat generic story quite nicely. I only wish Joyce had dialed it back on the chorus, going for a more organic punch than the screaming rock that drowns Underwood out.

Likely second single “Heartbeat,” which features Sam Hunt and was produced by his orchestrator Crowell, finds Underwood in a field with her man ‘dancing to the rhythm of [his] heartbeat.’ The track, which Underwood and Crowell co-wrote with Ashley Gorley, is a pleasant pop ballad that finds Underwood nicely subdued.

She also co-wrote four other tracks on the album. “Renegade Runaway” kicks off Storyteller with bang. The rocker, co-written with her “Smoke Break” comrades, is slinky and fun but suffers from a god-awful chorus that renders the song almost unlistenable. Mike Elizondo, best known for his work with Drake and Eminem, was brought in collaborate with Underwood and Lindsay on club thumper “Chaser.” The results are immature at best and showcase Underwood at her most watered down.

Fortunately, Underwood rebounds with her final two co-writes. Underwood and Lindsay turned to David Hodges to write “The Girl You Think I Am,” an ode to her father in the vein of “Mama’s Song” from Play On. It’s a beautiful prayer about acceptance, from a daughter who wants to overcome her insecurities to live up to her father’s expectations.

The other, “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted,” is the centerpiece of Storyteller even though it closes the album. Underwood isn’t an artist who normally looks from within for inspiration, so it’s rare when she finds inspiration in her own life for a song. The results aren’t spectacular – she could’ve gone a lot deeper lyrically and found even a little hint of country music in the execution – but she’s gotten her feet wet for future moves in this direction.

Storyteller wouldn’t be an Underwood album unless she revisits the murderous themes that have become her touchstone. These songs have grown into bigger productions in the ten years since “Before He Cheats” and usually suffer from a lack of subtlety. That doesn’t change much here, although they are kind of fun to listen to. “Choctaw County Affair” showcases Underwood’s growth as a vocalist with a delicious story about a woman’s mysterious death. “Church Bells” is an excellent backwoods rocker about domestic abuse. “Dirty Laundry,” on the other hand, is juvenile and revisits themes already too well worn. “Mexico,” about bandits on the run, isn’t the island song you’d expect but a typical Underwood rocker.

On every Underwood album there’s one song that stands out from the rest, a likely non-single that’ll always be a much-appreciated deep album cut. On Storyteller that distinction goes to sensual ballad “Like I’ll Never Love You Again,” written by the CMA Song of the Year winning team behind “Girl Crush.” Underwood delivers flawlessly, while the lyric is the strongest and most well written on the whole album.

“Relapse” is nothing more than a blown out pop power ballad that does little to advance Underwood’s artistry beyond the fact she showcases new colors in her voice. “Clock Don’t Stop,” another ballad, suffers from a hip-hop inspired chorus that relies far too heavily on drawn out one syllable words and yeahs in place of actual lyrics.

Storyteller is an odd album. I refuse to judge its complete lack of actual country music as a flaw even though it hurts the proceedings quite a bit. There are some listenable pop songs here, like “Heartbeat,” but most of this music is below Underwood’s talent level. The deliciousness of “Choctaw County Affair” saves it from the scrap heap while the articulate lyric of “Like I’ll Never Love You Again” is very, very good. But there isn’t much here that doesn’t feel like poorly written middle of the road pop/rock passing as modern country.

I give Underwood complete credit for changing up her sound and trying something new. It just isn’t to my taste at all. I much prefer the powerhouse who gave us the one-two-punch of “Something In The Water” and “Little Toy Guns.” That’s the Carrie Underwood I could listen to all day.