Music CDs Reviews - Page 13

Buddy Jewell
Buddy Jewell
Columbia Records

Two million people recently chose Buddy Jewell as the winner of the Nashville Star TV talent contest. This shaggy-haired father of three has quickly become country music’s most famous newcomer.

However, Jewell, 42, is anything but an overnight sensation; the Osceola, Ark., native struggled for 10 years in Nashville—washing cars, driving trucks, and unloading UPS packages—while trying to make it as a singer. Though Jewell was ready to abandon his dream, his wife talked him into auditioning for the show.

It’s a good thing he listened to his wife because Jewell has created one of the best country music CDs of 2003. A cross between Trace Adkins and Billy Dean, he unveils a warm, easy voice that’s smooth but not slick, masculine but not insensitive.

He’s already scored a hit with the tender Help Pour Out the Rain (Lacey’s Song) that he wrote for his daughter, but he reveals his rollicking side with I Want to Thank Everyone, a sarcastic jab at all those who told him no along the way. O’Reilly Luck is a story song with a smile-inducing twist, while the heartbreaking Why We Said Goodbye is a poignant, timeless masterpiece.

His CD proves that Buddy Jewell is a real Nashville star. But perhaps that’s no surprise; 2 million Americans can’t be wrong.

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Tracy Byrd is throwing a party and inviting fans to come along. At least that seems the intent with much of this 11-song album. The Beaumont, Texas-native brings wit and a live-show atmosphere to songs like Drinkin’ Bone—a honky-tonk anatomy lesson from a guy who’s trying to stay out of trouble—and How’d I Wind Up In Jamaica, a reggae-esque stomper about the joys of getting away from it all. Byrd really turns up the humor on his current single, The Truth About Men, which imparts such male truths/stereotypes as: “We don’t like to go out shoppin’, don’t care what’s on sale/Just wanna sit with a bag full of chips watchin’ the NFL.” His perfect tongue-in-cheek delivery shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Byrd’s previous hits—Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous and Watermelon Crawl.

In between, he offers a glimpse at small-town life in Tiny Town and speaks of the difficulties and unflinching hope of a single mom in That’s What Keeps Her Getting By.

Byrd caps his ninth career album with a live version of a previous hit, Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo. In short, don’t miss this party.

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Joe Nichols
Man With A Memory
Universal South

It’s hard to imagine a new artist having more success than singer/songwriter Joe Nichols is enjoying right now. His Universal South debut album, Man With A Memory, has already spawned two No. 1 songs—The Impossible and Brokenheartsville. Steeped in tradition, the 26-year-old’s rich and mature baritone has been compared to the likes of Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizzell.

Nichols was raised with an older brother and younger sister in Rogers, Ark. (pop. 35,355), a town near Fayetteville. In this “suburbia, but without a big city nearby,” as he recalls it, his truck-driving father played bass and sang. Like Nichols’ grandfather and uncles, his dad played classic country music. “Their kind of country,” Nichols says, “was the music I’ve always liked to listen to. My favorite records are by George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Marty Robbins.”

Nichols, who has been a featured act on Alan Jackson’s current “Drive” tour, shot the video for his new single, She Only Smokes When She Drinks, in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter.“It’s been an unbelievable year,” Nichols says.

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One to Watch

Tammy Cochran’s career was defined on her self-titled debut album with the release of Angels In Waiting. The touching song tells the true story of her two brothers, Shawn and Alan, who died from cystic fibrosis.

Since that time, Cochran has gone on to earn hits with the title track to her latest album, Life Happened, as well as I Cry and her current single, Love Won’t Let Me. The passionate singer has also been burning up the road as an opening act for George Strait.

Cochran grew up in Austintown, Ohio (pop. 32,371), a town near the Pennsylvania border. Her retired father, Delmar, was a heavy equipment operator and her mother, Mabel, worked as a private investigator. At age 12, Cochran won the first talent contest she entered and was hooked forever on music as a career. In an effort to earn a record deal, she moved to Nashville in 1991. Things didn’t progress quickly. “No matter what avenue you choose in your life, you’re gonna come up against brick walls,” Cochran says. “You’re gonna wanna turn around, and you’re gonna wanna run. I just wouldn’t give up.”

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The 24th album of country supergroup Alabama is coinciding with “The American Farewell Tour 2003,” and they’re leaving us with the best of their best. Billed as “the final chapter” in the band’s unparalleled recording career, In the Mood:The Love Songs features 23 tracks—21 of their best-known love songs and two new recordings.

The classics include Love in the First Degree, There’s No Way, Forever’s As Far As I’ll Go, The Closer You Get, Face to Face, Feels So Right, and Close Enough to Perfect. “We love these songs,” says lead singer Randy Owen.

Alabama has had more No. 1 records than any band in country music history, has sold more concert tickets than any other country group, and has won some 150 show business awards.

A listen to this anthology reveals why.

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Jennifer Hanson
Jennifer Hanson
Capitol Nashville

Newcomer Jennifer Hanson’s self-titled, debut album, buoyed by her first single, Beautiful Goodbye, and the catchy Half A Heart Tattoo, bursts out of the country music gate with one of the freshest sounds coming out of Nashville.

Hanson’s musical influences, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, are perceptible in This Far Gone, All Those Yesterdays, and Get Yourself Back, yet Hanson’s sound is all her own. Expect great things from this new artist.

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Steal Another Day
Steve Wariner
Selectone Records

Steal Another Day is a welcome album, the first in two years, from Steve Wariner, who recorded 11 new songs and re-recorded five of his early favorite hits, including Some Fools Never Learn and The Weekend.

Of his new material, Snowfall on the Sand may be the most identifiably “Steve Wariner” song with its hopeful, full-circle story of a boy and his estranged father. Other gems include This Christmas Prayer and Welcome to This World, both of which encourage us to appreciate our family and enjoy everyday life.

Perhaps the most poignant cut on the album is There Will Come A Day (Holly’s Song) for his stepdaughter, Holly, a diabetic since she was 8 years old. Wariner has given the song to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to use for fund raising.

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A Merry Christmas to All
Audium Records
Rockin’ fiddler Charlie Daniels has some mellow moments with I’ll Be Home for Christmas, White Christmas, and What Child is This. But he also jumps into the holiday party spirit with a bluesy rendition of Blue Christmas and the fun kids’ tunes Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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Let It Be Christmas
Arista Nashville
No steel guitars here. Jackson has recorded a holiday CD filled with 10 classics (Winter Wonderland; O Come, All Ye Faithful; Silent Night; Silver Bells) with a big band sound. A bonus is the title track, Let It Be Christmas, which Jackson wrote.

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