Kyle Park's new single, 'The Night Is Young,' is as straight forward of a country song as you'll find. Park sets off to tell a simple one-night story of a guy, a girl and a little trouble, and does so effortlessly. The Texas country singer has surrounded himself with a strong production team to make the first single from an upcoming new album easy to remember.
'Only God Could Love You More' is a song that doesn't leave many places for Jerrod Niemann to hide. The second single from 'Shinin' on Me' is vulnerable a la 'Stay' by Sugarland. Niemann steps up to the challenge and delivers what should be his biggest hit. This could be a career-defining song.
Taylor Swift's new album, 'Red,' doesn't provide much to quiet the haters who will forever accuse her of being "too pop." It's inaccurate to say she leans that way on most of the 16 new songs. That tower in Pisa leans. Swift is in a pike position diving toward sugary waters.
If four or five songs from Jason Aldean's new 'Night Train' album reach No. 1, does that mean it's indisputably a great country music record? This seems likely to happen -- the hits are there and Aldean is red hot right now -- yet from top to bottom, the singer's fifth project leaves one wanting some magic never felt before.
Vulnerability is not Montgomery Gentry's specialty. Country music's toughest duo aim to be the good guy in 'I'll Keep the Kids,' but in the context of their personal lives, the divorce ballad tastes like sour grapes.
Call it hokey if you want, but try not to smile while listening to Josh Turner's new song 'Find Me a Baby.' The second single from 'Punching Bag' is more fun than anything of his since 'Why Don't We Just Dance' from 2009. Turner exemplifies everything one hopes marriage will be.
The story goes like this: Texas teen auditions for 'Nashville Star,' doesn't win but uses the experience as motivation to sharpen her pen so that she can release her own melodic country music years later. The result strikes deep; right to the bone. It's uncomfortably close to reality for millions of Americans without offering much hope. Sound familiar?
If nothing else, the 12 songs on 'New to This Town' -- the first solo album from Kix Brooks in 23 years -- serve as reminder that we really don't know the mustachioed half of Brooks and Dunn very well. The project is is downright rowdy, and Brooks is a more colorful singer than he showed on songs like 'Lost and Found.'
High Valley‘s tight harmonies and bluegrass influenced pop-country sound will be new to American audiences, but the sibling trio proves that their success in Canada wasn’t just a fluke. ‘Love You for a Long Time,’ the debut single on Eaglemont Entertainment, is a professional recording one usually doesn’t find from a baby act. This group is clearly a seasoned — but still exciting — voice to keep an eye on.
Darius Rucker takes a simple story of two lovers who defy odds and skeptics and places it gently on a cloud in the stratosphere — a place few others can reach. ‘True Believers’ begins as a mild and unremarkable pop-country song before clever production and Rucker’s unforgettable voice find one soaring in the euphoria.
If Joanna Smith‘s new single ‘We Can’t Be Friends’ was released 30 years ago, we might call it a classic in 2012. Since the singer is relatively new, however (the sexy single ‘Georgia Mud’ barely cracked the chart in 2011 ), we’ll restrain ourselves from over-selling this portrait of caged yearning. Smith is the perfect voice to tell the story.
No one is going to pull out the calendar, but if Thomas Rhett was legally old enough to enjoy a ‘Beer With Jesus’ when he recorded the song, it wasn’t by much. What matters is whether or not the Georgia born singer is polished enough to carry the poignant lyric.
