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Reviews

Album Review: Blackberry Smoke–Find a Light

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Rating: 9/10

In my recent discussion on “real country” with Zack of The Musical Divide, he brought up the interesting point that country-oriented sites tend to be more accepting of rock influences infiltrating the country genre than of pop ones. He even cited Blackberry Smoke as being a band embraced by a lot of sites such as ours, and the point is a good one; Blackberry Smoke’s sound is less country than much of what we’d call pop country, yet many of the same people that shun country music infused with pop elements welcome Blackberry Smoke with open arms, a band who, aside from select tracks, arguably doesn’t fit within the genre at all.

It’s a contradiction and an interesting thing to ponder, and I still don’t have a good answer for why strict traditionalists are so averse to pop influences mixing with country, but after one listen to this latest Blackberry Smoke album, I think I can say exactly why these listeners embrace them and their Southern rock sound. It’s that while we’ve all been focused on the dying art form of traditional country, Southern rock has died right along with it. Maybe we don’t notice its absence as much with the prominence of classic rock over classic country on our radio dials–and also because we keep our focus on the country genre–but when you hear this come blasting out of your speakers, it’s suddenly, startlingly apparent that fans of Skynyrd and CCR have become just as forgotten and disenfranchised as fans of Willie and Waylon. Southern rock, like traditional country, represents a place and people whose music is seen as the sound of a backward generation that needs to be brought into the present. It’s no wonder country fans can identify with this. Just like country music, Southern rock needs artists to keep it alive in the modern context, to prove it’s not music of the past and to keep pushing the genre forward.

For all you disenfranchised fans of Southern rock music, I proudly present Atlanta’s Blackberry Smoke, ready to take up that particular torch and carry it with a vengeance.

I’ve talked about the decline of the importance of melody and even great vocals in the “age of the song” we’re living in, but it also has meant the virtual extinction of the guitar riff. We’re all so focused on lyrics and songwriting that we’ve forgotten what unique joy a great guitar riff can bring to our ears. “Run Away From it All” is a swift reminder, calling to mind those great rock bands of the 70’s and just getting perpetually stuck in your head. The same can be said for the piano-infused “Medicate my Mind” and the energetic “Best seat in the House,” both songs which carry the album theme of finding light in the midst of life’s struggles and both of which sound like they could have been recorded by any of your favorite Southern rock bands at the height of that subgenre.

But this band is also uniquely modern, penning songs like “Lord strike me Dead” and “Nobody Gives a Damn” to address the current state of our world, a state with which they seem to be especially disgusted. The former is more self-reflective, seeing lead singer Charlie Starr indicting the thin-skinned and those always looking for someone to blame, wishing God would just strike him dead and remove him from everyone’s bullshit. The latter is more of an address to these people themselves and something we’d all probably like to say to the whole of social media–“you think everyone’s watchin’, but nobody gives a damn.” These two are great testaments for the viability of Southern rock in 2018, for proof that it’s not just the music of times gone by and can still be relatable today.

Still, there’s variety in the sound as well on this record; it’s not all just screaming Southern rock anthems. “I’ve Got This song” is a straight-up, three-chord country number with an ungodly amount of fiddle. This is one of the best songs of the year so far, a simple declaration that whatever happens, the one think that Starr won’t lose is his music. Amanda Shires lends some of her characteristically excellent harmony to another country moment, the heartbreak song “Let me Down Easy.” This one is upbeat despite its sobering lyrics and provides a cool contradiction musically. “Till the Wheels Fall Off” goes for more of the Red Dirt country/rock blend than Southern rock and reminds me sonically of Kody West or early Eli Young Band. The laid-back closer, “Mother Mountain,” features the Wood Brothers and serves to end this high-energy record on more of a subdued, peaceful note, even fading out with the sounds of a running stream to end it all.

And somehow, despite all these standouts and unique moments on this album, I’ve failed to mention the ridiculously exciting “I’ll Keep Ramblin’,” which might just shine above all of them. This one is just a glorious five-minute exhibition of music where essentially all hell breaks loose as they sing about living restless, rambling lives. We have some killer piano, some screaming electric guitar, a gospel choir, and an appearance by pedal steel player Robert Randolph. We’ve seen our fair share of Southern rock and country on this record, and here we have a touch of blues and soul to round it all out.

If you haven’t figured it out, this is an excellent album. At thirteen tracks and especially fifty-three minutes, it could have done with having a couple songs trimmed, particularly near the front of the record. There’s nothing here I’d skip, but most of this material is so strong that even a marginally weaker track sticks out like filler. If they’d trimmed it a little, it would have been an absolutely ridiculous ten- or eleven-song project, one that would have earned a perfect rating here–and let me say, that would have only been the ninth album to achieve this status since this site was founded in June 2015…yet it would have been Blackberry Smoke’s second, something no artist has done to date. It falls just short of achieving that, but it quickly replaces Lindi Ortega’s Liberty, which held the title for a glorious week, as the strongest album to grace our presence in 2018, and we’ll be talking about this album again when those endless lists come around in December.

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Some Southern Rock

Some Country

Some Good Music

Reviews

Single Review: Kenny Chesney’s “Get Along”

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Rating: 5/10

Look, we all knew this was coming, that in this especially divisive political and social climate, some mainstream country artist was going to release something about this and tell us something generic like that we should all get along. Enter Chesney, who literally calls this “Get Along” and asks if we can’t all just well, get along.

When I heard this was coming, I had a bad feeling I was going to hate it. I’m pleasantly surprised to say I don’t. It comes with a nice, bouncy melody and even some substance in the verses as he interacts with specific people and paints pictures of loneliness. It reminds me startlingly of Keith Urban’s “Female,” where the verses actually tried to go for something by giving specific examples and imagery. Kenny Chesney delivers it with some personality as well, unlike his last couple of singles.

But just like with “Female,” Shane McAnally manages to ruin this in the chorus. I can’t prove that McAnally is the one, of the three songwriters who produced this, responsible for penning the lines, “paint a wall, learn to dance, call your mom, buy a boat, drink a beer, sing a song,” but then again, it’s almost proof in and of itself. It’s the same listastic bullshit which ruined “Female” and which follows McAnally around. It takes a song which tries to say something meaningful and then inserts a list of crap which, in the case of both of these songs, has nothing to do with anything. What does painting a wall have to do with getting along with people and loving your neighbor? That’s right, nothing.

This song is pretty much harmless; I wouldn’t change the station if it came on. It’s not the offensive mess it could have been. But it’s not some deep, thought-provoking anthem that tries to unite us all either. You can’t do this with a song so transparent anyway. It takes something like the simple story in Jason Eady’s “Black Jesus,” or the sharp wit in “But You Like Country Music” from sunny Sweeney and Brennen Leigh, to really bring people from opposite backgrounds and political affiliations together. Both of those songs will stand the test of time. This is not a terrible song, but it’s far from the statement it claims to be, and ultimately, it will be quickly forgotten.

Written by: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman

Commentary

Sarah Shook Makes Perfect Case for the Importance of Vocal Technique

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In an interview ahead of Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ new album, Shook had some interesting things to say about her preparation for this record. She says that she went back and listened to their first album, Sidelong, in an effort to see how she could improve.

It was good, she decided, but knew it could be better. She studied vocal technique so that she could hit notes more accurately while in the studio, changing the way she sings and how she controls her voice. And the difference is palpable. “Even just the control of my voice and the way I sing sounds completely different to me now…I really wanted to be singing my best.”

Indeed, I’d agree with the article that the difference between the two albums is tangible, but I’ll save my comments on that for my review of Years after its release tomorrow. However, the point here is that Sarah Shook recognized the importance of her vocal delivery, counting it just as significant as her songwriting and musicianship, even seeking to improve what she could. Anyone at all familiar with Sarah Shook & the Disarmers knows that hers isn’t a polished or even a pleasant vocal tone, but on this album, the songs seem to work in spite of that. It’s because she worked with what she had. A singer cannot change his or her tone, but other things can be improved, like pitch accuracy and breath control, and Shook understood that and treated her vocals like another necessary part of her craft.

This should be an obvious thing, but it’s something many artists in the independent scenes could take a lesson from, as well as something many critics/reviewers/etc don’t commentate on enough. With tone being something a vocalist has no control over, it’s easy to see why reviewers don’t address vocal issues often, but just like any other instrument, it can be improved. Vivian Leva doesn’t have to add the inflections in her voice that make some of her songs hard to listen to. Bonnie Montgomery’s album would have been better had she studied breath support techniques and given more power to her lyrics, many of which were lyrics that would have been delivered better with a punch. Jade Jackson released a record last year with engaging melodies, great songwriting, and varied instrumentation, and yes, her tone can be off-putting, but she could have gone a long way toward helping that by seeking to improve her pitch accuracy. Anyone who isn’t completely tone deaf can improve these skills. I could list a lot more examples, and indeed, I’ve wanted to write this post for a very long time, just as I wrote one about the lost art of melody writing by independent/Americana songwriters, but until now, I didn’t have an example of someone doing it right, a proof that greater attention to vocals can be felt from project to project. Sarah Shook’s hard work in preparation of this record is that proof, and artists should aspire to this.

As for the reason they’re not aspiring to it more often, I think it goes back to the backlash I talked about in the melody post, as countless reality shows hold up vocal ability as the pinnacle of great musicianship. There was a second-place finisher on American Idol several seasons before its finale that, when recording an original song for her final performance, couldn’t identify a D7 chord when she was asked to sing on it in the studio. This is very basic musical knowledge, and stuff like this is incredibly insulting to musicians and songwriters who make music their life’s work. Although singing is a great talent, it’s sometimes looked upon as somehow secondary in music, particularly when amazing vocalists win these shows and then go on to do nothing whatsoever afterword because they have no knowledge of the business, no experience as a musician, and nothing profound to say as an artist. Artistry is much more than outstanding vocal talent, and these shows are an excellent display of this. It’s understandable, then, that the reaction from the independent scenes is to glorify songwriting and musicianship and hold them up higher than vocal ability. After all, we’re living in the age of the song, and adequate vocals are fine as long as you have something important to say.

But the age of the song shouldn’t mean that we’re not also living in the age of the singer. Think how much more beautiful some of these songs would be if their singers expanded their ranges and thereby could write more interesting melodies. This is why the two issues are interconnected. It’s why Courtney Marie Andrews’ songs are especially poignant; yes, she writes beautifully, but it’s her soaring vocals and the way she handles dynamics and inflections that gives them extra life. “Took You Up” is already a fine song, but it’s excellent because of the way she sings the chorus, her voice soaring for the high notes of “ain’t got much, but we got each other,” and then carefully controlled and subdued for the final, “I took you up,” sustaining the note to create just the right amount of emotion. Emotive interpreting and vocal delivery are art forms just like songwriting and musicality, and they should be respected as such.

That’s what Sarah Shook has done here; she’s respected the art of singing. She’s understood that her tone might not be a conventional one to which people would normally gravitate, and she’s done her best to improve what she can. As a vocalist, that’s all you can do; you can’t change the tone and vocal quality God gave you, nor should singers wish to because that’s what makes them unique and distinctive and stand out among the crowd. But the voice is an instrument, and it can be perfected just like any other. Dynamics, breath support, pitch, range, all of these elements can be improved–and as for reviewers, if you can criticize a guitar for being out of tune or being drowned out in the mix, or say electronic drums don’t work on a certain song, then why should you hesitate to share your thoughts on and criticisms of this particular instrument as well?…but I digress. Singers should respect their instrument instead of treating it like some sort of secondary element, simply a vehicle to convey their words. Rather, it should be a vehicle to take their words and transform them into something even more powerful, and when vocalists care about it this way, the results shine regardless of the singer’s tone. Sarah Shook proves that, and many artists could take a lesson from the dedication she’s given to her craft.

Playlists

March Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music

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March didn’t start out strong, and for awhile, I wondered if we’d actually be able to make a worthwhile list at the end of the month. But I held out hope for the later releases, especially the March 30th albums that promised to bring us a ton of great music. And yeah, I needn’t have worried; we were blessed with great music from Courtney Marie Andrews, Kacey Musgraves, Lindi Ortega, Red Shahan, Ashley McBryde…and the list goes on. It’s as good a time as any to check out all of these artists. This has been our most diverse playlist so far, from the traditional, almost bluegrass selection by Vivian Leva to the rock anthems of Red Shahan, so there should truly be something here for everyone. As always, many thanks to Zack for supplying this on Spotify.

Apple Music users can follow me there @countryexclusive for access to all our playlists, as well as updates to the Saving Country Music top 25. For March’s playlist,
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Reviews

Album Review: Palo Duro by Shotgun Rider

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Rating: 7/10

With so many great and important albums coming out last Friday and things happening behind the scenes for me personally, it was going to take serious motivation for me to actually add another record to my list, at least not to a list of stuff I’d actually get to anytime soon. Maybe the debut album by Texas country group Shotgun Rider would go on the never-ending back burner, ready to be pulled out on a slow release week in the future. I had no intention of actually getting to it quickly–and then motivation came swiftly for me when I heard that the lead singer sounded vocally like a more polished Gary Allan. For one, that’s a really specific comparison, and for another, Gary Allan has one of the most distinctive voices in modern country music, and imagining a more polished, less gritty version of his unique tone was intriguing. I put on Palo Duro, and indeed, it’s as if the lead singer, Logan Sanford, were the love child of Gary Allan and Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band. Fans of either of these vocalists should check this out. Since I am a fan of both, this immediately had my attention, and it turned out to be a really solid Texas country debut from Shotgun rider.

Just like Red Shahan’s album, this record is named for a landmark in West Texas, in this case the majestic Palo Duro canyon stretching for miles across the Texas panhandle. However, unlike Shahan’s record, this album is a more polished blend of country and rock; rather than rugged grit, this album goes for a smoother, cleaner sound. Also, where Culberson County is a record for thinking, this one’s a record for drinking, representing the lighter, Aaron Watson/Josh Abbott side of Texas country. This relies on strong hooks and catchy melodies more than hard-hitting lyrics. That’s not to say there aren’t some smart lyrics here, but they’re not really the biggest focus with this music.

But there’s nothing wrong whatsoever with solid, hook-driven music; in fact, Americana could use more of it. It provides a nice balance between deeper albums whenever it’s done right, and this record is most certainly done right. It’s a hard album to write about because there are only so many ways to say this is solid, and you can’t really analyze the lyrics all that much. But these songs, though not especially outstanding lyrically, are enhanced by Sanford’s vocal delivery, by hooks that quickly stick in your head, and by melodies which just make much of this album infectious.

The production goes a long way to separate this from other similar albums as well. It does a great job blending the classic sounds of Texas country, with equal parts crying steel and screaming electric guitar. Most of these tracks are also built around minor chords and/or darker keys, so there’s an element of seriousness to songs that might otherwise be lightweight. “Texas Rain,” probably the strongest selection here, does an excellent job building throughout the song to convey the storm of emotions this narrator is facing, as he can’t help but love a woman who comes and goes just like the West Texas rain, never staying long enough to actually provide relief. And sometimes, it’s just the passion and sincerity of Sanford’s delivery that makes a song work, like on “Lucky Him,” as the main character laments the fact that his ex is finding everything she ever dreamed of with another man. George Strait is cited as one of this band’s main influences, and that is evident here in this track, which sounds like a modern version of “You Look so Good in Love.”

As mentioned, the lyrics are secondary, but for the most part, they are solid. This is a debut, and it’s a strong one, but Shotgun Rider can certainly improve their songwriting on future releases since most of this doesn’t really go deeper than the surface. Still, except for the last three tracks, the writing works well enough. It’s on these last three, and particularly on the closer, “The Night Don’t Love You,” that the writing really becomes a liability, and this serves to end a really promising album on a bit of a whimper.

This is not a record that’s going to blow you away or give you some profound new revelation about life. But it works well for what it is, a hook-driven slice of modern Texas country music. We need more albums like this providing energy and stepping up to balance out the great songwriting efforts by other artists. We need more music like this to prove you can make a good album without being especially deep or artsy or making some grand statement. In a perfect world, this is the kind of music we’d be championing in the mainstream, and in that fantasy world, it would do well. Really strong debut, and I’m excited to see where Shotgun Rider will go from here.

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