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Trace Adkins is Keepin’ it Country:
Category Archives: Review
REVIEW: CMT Hitlist Tour
Last night (03/20), the CMT Hitlist Tour rolled through Ottawa, Canada. The Algonquin Commons Theatre was one of fourteen stops the tour will see by the end of its run. This one-of-a-kind concert experience showcases and celebrates the talented country artists within the nation. With such a great lineup, it would have been hard to disappoint. And that they did not.
REVIEW: Kira Isabella – Love Me Like That
Three years after signing with Sony Music Canada, Kira Isabella is finally rising to prominence as the opening act for the Canadian leg of Carrie Underwood’s breathtaking Blown Away tour. In perhaps her biggest moment yet, the 19-year-old played to 14,000 in her hometown Ottawa on Saturday night. As the Ottawa Citizen wrote the next day, “Isabella was comfortable and confident on stage, her big smile showing that she was in her element.” As a tribute to this landmark moment for the young artist, I’ve gotten around reviewing her album, “Love Me Like That”, which has been sitting in my CD changer for a couple months now.
Isabella’s debut effort opens with “Blame It On Your Truck”. This catchy number describes the classic excuse for getting home late after a date. At first her breathy voice seems almost too innocent for the lyrics, but you get used to her vocal style before long.
REVIEW: Toby Keith – Hope On The Rocks
Toby Keith has had the kind of career that young artists dream of. He’s released nearly an album a year for the last twenty years, more than forty of his singles have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, and twenty or so have hit Number One. He’s one of the top-earning country artists in the business, and seven years ago he transitioned to a new role and founded his own successful label.
“Hope On The Rocks” represents the eighth straight year he’s released an album, a streak that started with a personal favourite of mine, 2005’s Honkytonk University. The album opens with the title track, a downbeat number about those for whom a bartender doubles as therapist – “Where do they go?/They come here/to drown in their sorrow/and cry in their beer.” Keith has never been particularly acclaimed for non-party/non-patriotic songs, but this number proves, as did songs like “I Ain’t Already There“, that he’s fully capable of turning out great music of all tempos.
REVIEW: Chad Brownlee & Dallas Smith in Ottawa
Last night (11/05), Canadian singers Dallas Smith and Chad Brownlee performed one heck of a show in Ottawa. What a treat! This country girl has seen too many shows to count from all different genres. But this particular show stood out and will be one I’ll remember for quite some time.
To review this show in just a few paragraphs seems unjust. In fact, it was difficult to take notes because I found myself just wanting to enjoy the show. With that being said, there were definitely many highlights of the show that are worth noting.
REVIEW: Jason Charles Miller at The Whisky
Review courtesy of our guest columnist, Rei Nishimoto.
Country music has quickly grown into more than a genre best recognized by artists such as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Over the past couple of decades, its image has expanded to include such new faces such as Jason Charles Miller, where he brings a new look and feel to a somewhat familiar sound.
At tonight’s show at the Whisky in West Hollywood, Miller and his band put on a solid set of familiar songs that captures what many would envision country music – bluesy Southern style melodies with a swinging feel that draws music listeners in immediately. Brothers (and twins), Adam Hall on the banjo and dobro, and bassist Zack Hall, along with fiddler Benedikt Brydem, drummer David Daniel Diaz, guitarists Willie Von Arx and Brett Boyett, all keep the band’s sound solid, and rarely misses a step throughout their set. His eclectic selection of musicians within his band brings out definitely helps solidify his overall sound into something worth checking out.
One area that separates Miller from many country artists in today’s scene is that his tattooed image creates an edgy imagine most artists in that genre do not necessarily have. In songs such as “Uncountry,” he humorously sings about their unwillingness to accept anything beyond the norm. On the other hand, he is still able to work in more traditional country sounding tunes into his setlist without straying too far away from the original feel of the genre. But in his own way, he is able to win fans over with his charisma and his strong vocal range.
While the debate wages on about whether Nashville is truly ready to embrace Miller and his so called alt-country sound with open arms, he has moved ahead and brought his music to the people instead. Tonight’s show was an indication that there is no stopping him from giving music to the people who want something outside of the norm.
REVIEW: Farm Aid Ottawa
The weather may have been cool but the music was most definitely hot. Yesterday, (09/16) a crowd of a few thousand gathered at Ottawa Stadium for a great cause, as well as great music.
Farm Aid Ottawa, put on by DNA Presents, featured performances by great Canadian country talent to raise money that would go directly to farmers to assist them with inflated feed prices and buying seeds for next year’s crop.
Early in the afternoon, Jordan McIntosh, Gail Gavan and Ambush took to the stage to perform a few of their songs. Shortly after, Jason Blaine‘s presence became well known as several female fans spotted him beside the stage asking for pictures. A group of girls immediately assembled to wait for pictures with the country star who took the time to talk to and take pictures with each one of them.
REVIEW: Gloriana – A Thousand Miles Left Behind
When Gloriana debuted in 2009 with their singles “Wild At Heart” and “How Far Do You Wanna Go?” off their self-titled album, I was awestruck. With powerful, harmonic, almost joyful vocals, they were exactly the kind of country I like best. The quartet jumped right to the top of my bands-to-watch list. In fact, I went to a Taylor Swift concert with 15,000 screaming teenage girls just to see them. (I did stick around after their set for Miranda Lambert and Taylor, too.)
Three years later, they’ve released their second album , “A Thousand Miles Left Behind”, and the first two singles off the record. But things have changed for the band. Member Cheyenne Kimball has left the group, leaving Rachel Reinert and Tom and Mike Gossin as a trio. Conscious of how Love and Theft’s transition from a trio to a duo affected the strength of their vocals, I wondered how Gloriana would cope with the same problem.
REVIEW: Jason Charles Miller – Natural Born Killer
One of the things that stands out about country music is the story telling of its songs. It’s a sad state of affairs when artists today start to worry more about selling number one hits than they are about staying true to the story telling nature of the genre. That’s not the case with Jason Charles Miller, the latest artist to sign with Render Records in Nashville. He released his first album on the label on July 4th, and the Hollywood-based country singer is staying true to the genre – putting together an album of story telling songs on “Natural Born Killer.”
With the rise of rock infused country music, Jason might just be the hottest new thing to hit the scene. While he doesn’t dress or act much like Luke Bryan or Blake Shelton, he still put together one of the hidden gems of country music this year.
REVIEW: Love & Theft (album)
Love and Theft have just released their self-titled sophomore album. The duo (formerly a trio) became a sensation with the powerful “Runaway” – long a staple of my Friday escape-from-work playlist. Now down one member, their lyrics lack some of the oomph they used to have, but they still make good music.
The pair is at their best when they’re sharing lead vocal duty and harmonizing. Both Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson get some solo time on this album, and though they perform well, it loses what makes them unique as a group.
“Love and Theft” opens with “Angel Eyes”, which I reviewed here. Everything I said then still applies – I love this song.
Review: Duets – Episode 6: And We’re Live!
It’s a big week Duets fans (yes, all 3 of you), we’re going live! The contestants’ careers, or 15 minutes of fame, are no longer in the hands of the superstars, but have been entrusted to the American people! Yes, the same American people who voted for Taylor Hicks and Lee Dewyze…
Moving right along, the show begins with something I will nerdily admit that I’ve missed the last few week’s: a performance from the judges. The fab 4 hit the stage to riff their way through George Michael’s “Freedom,” which clearly fits perfectly with the night’s theme, Song of the Millennium. Erm, what? Also, Robin Thicke may have tried to dress like 80′s-style George Michael, but instead, he looks much more like “90210″-style Dylan McKay, ready to break some hearts at West Beverly High. Speaking of West Bev, Kelly Clarkson has transformed from Brenda Walsh into Kelly Taylor between tapings. Well played, KC.
Our always SO EXCITED host, Quetzalcoatl (Google it.) points out how much the superstars have changed, even more than I just did. Since last week’s episode, big things have happened, like Robin Thicke growing a beard. My BFF, Jennifer Nettles announced that she’s having a baby and I took up knitting in the hopes of being able to make some booties in time. Kelly Clarkson somehow found a time machine that transported her back about 7 years to exactly what she looked like in 2005, and John Legend, is still dull. And muppet-like.
Quddus reminds us that Jennifer Nettles is now the only superstar with 2 contestants left. Now that we know she’s pregnant, it’s obvious she’s been singing for two all along. Interestingly enough, her unborn fetus still has more charisma and talent than Robin Thicke.
First up tonight is Jennifer Nettles and John Glosson, who we learn has A WIFE and a wedding design store. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. He’ll be taking on “When You Say You Love Me” by Josh Groban, and once again, he and Jennifer sound great together. However, it’s more of the same, and I think I’d love to hear this song if I was in an elevator or a dentist chair wearing one of those iron vests that protect your organs from radiation damage. Anyway, Johnny G is way more mega-church than Madison Square Garden, and there’s nothing wrong with that. As the song comes to a close, there’s some theatrics and for a split second, I think they might make out. Now I’m just super uncomfortable and find myself trying to decide if John looks more like Slimer or the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. I’m thinking the latter.
Next up is Robin Thicke and Olivia “Why the heck are you still on this show?” Chishholm. Seriously, why is Jordan gone and this Beyonce by-product still on my television? If Beyonce was an organic, farm-raised chicken, Olivia would be all the leftover pieces that they grind up into pink slime to make into a school lunch chicken nugget. Robin has chosen one of the best songs of the last few years, and considering that this is a country music blog, I should be excited by his choice of Lady Antebellum‘s “Need You Now.” However, they kill it, and not in a good way. Olivia mentions that this song will show off her strong voice, but instead, it sounds like she’s singing into a tin can. Robin Thicke is certainly no Charles Kelley, except for the fact that they both wear exceptionally tight pants. On certain parts of the song, namely the extended “nows,” Olivia’s sounds like her vocal chords are in a losing battle with a small goat. Now-ow-ow-OW, my ears. The judges try to be nice, but it’s obvious they hated it. I did too.
As we cut to commercial break, I’m wondering if ABC borrowed the superstars’ chairs from that terrible dating show, “The Choice.” Is THAT how Jennifer Nettles got pregnant? Quddus, where do babies come from?
Hitting the stage next are Kelly Clarkson and my TV boyfriend, Jason Farol, taking on Duffy’s “Mercy.” Since the last show, Jason has found some serious swagger, while Kelly found a bottle of peroxide. If she was Miley last week, this week, she is most definitely Hannah Montana. Their performance starts with Jason front and center, hips a-swiveling, while KC takes on backup duties before joining him up front for a full out duet. Together, these two slay the song. I’m not sure where THIS Jason has been hiding the last few weeks, but I’m glad he finally showed up. He picked the right moment to shine and if there were any girls watching tonight between the ages of say 12 and 40, I bet he scored some votes. A tweet from Reba appears on the screen supporting Team Kelly, and I file that under “things not shocking.”
John Legend and Bridget Carrington are up next to take on “Already Go…” I mean, “Halo” by Beyonce. Somewhere, Ryan Tedder is cackling in a stack of money. The way Fozzie sings is totally distracting and someone needs to let him know that he doesn’t need to open his mouth so wide when he sings to prove he’s articulating. Instead, I’m just waiting for him to throw a pie at us or something. Bridget shines here and all of the judges praise her, and for the first time, I’m a Bridget fan.
Last but not least is front-runner J. Rome. He and J. Net will be tackling “Without You” by Usher and David Guetta, or Gwedda if you ask Jennifer. I think that’s a kind of cheese. This video package only reaffirms my desire to be BFFs with Jennifer. This song definitely plays to J. Rome’s strengths and style as an artist, but the performance itself feels like it just lept off the CMT Crossroads stage. J. Rome is smooth and a decent dancer, but Jennifer looks like a marionette who just got her strings cut and found out she can move her arms and legs freely. It’s awkward yet oddly entertaining. The judges love J. Rome once again, and in what must be the utter display of love or an attempt to knock him in the vocal chords, Kelly hurls her sparkly heel at him.
There we have it…the first live episode is a wrap! Although it’s pretty clear who SHOULD go home, it will be interesting to see who actually does. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be shocked to see John Glosson get the boot. He sang first, was rather forgettable and may fall prey to Jennifer’s fans being forced to split their votes between two contestants. However, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the chicken nugget, Olivia, to get kicked out of this Happy Meal.
Who did you vote for, and more importantly, whose flame should be extinguished on “Duets” island?
