Staind frontman Aaron Lewis first threw his hat into the country ring in 2011 with the single "Country Boy." It seems Lewis' deep growl is as equally suited to twanging guitars (of which there are plenty here) as the rocking cacophony Staind musters up. That Lewis wrote or co-wrote all but one of these songs shows he is in tune with what's going on in contemporary country. "Party in Hell" is a lament to mistakes made in a hard life, while "Lessons Learned" is a heartfelt reminder to stop and smell the roses. Other highlights include "Granddaddy's Gun," "Anywhere But Here" and "The Road."
There's always been a Southern touch to Lionel Richie's music. Kenny Rogers recognized this when he took "Lady" to the top of the charts in 1980, and so did Conway Twitty, who covered "Three Times a Lady." Richie himself even landed on the country charts in 1984 with "Stuck On You." So a country duets album seems only natural. On Tuskegee, Richie lets the country stars bring out their down-home appeal, without losing his own signature charm. Highlights include: "Sail On" (with Tim McGraw), "My Love" (with Kenny Chesney) and "Deep River Woman" (with Little Big Town).
Erika Wennerstrom and Heartless Bastards are totally American: They rock, they roll, they follow their muse across the land -- mountains, sea and desert. Moreover, they're simple and immediate both emotionally and sonically, a lot like Crazy Horse, really. But they're American in another sense. Rising up from Arrow's very best tunes -- "Only For You," "Parted Ways," "Simple Feeling" -- is a thick cloud of inchoate restlessness. This isn't a lyrical component necessarily, just this weighty feeling. It's weird. Heartless Bastards aren't the heaviest band in the world, but they actually are.
Like the perfect pair of broken-in jeans, Blackberry Smoke's soulful blend of Southern-fried guitar riffs, and big 'n' bouncy rhythms, is a comfortable old friend. Their sound isn't flashy or trendy, but you know the fit is just right when the deliciously lustful rocker "Six Ways to Sunday" hits at full blast. But the boys can play it sensitive, too: "Up the Road" starts off with just a piano and Charlie Starr's stirring vocals, before slowly building into a stunning slice of old-school soul. Other highlights include "Ain't Got the Blues," "Everybody Knows She's Mine" and "Lucky Seven."
Steve Earle's son delivers a fifth album of low-key, soul-touched country rock. When your dad is Steve Earle and you are middle-named in honor of Townes Van Zandt, it's a lot to live up to, or more likely, drink and drug yourself to death to. Luckily, Earle has more than just iconic names and his own legendary substance abuse to precede him. The dude can write songs with an appropriate level of doomed mythology. "Baby's Got a Bad Idea" has that combination of Chuck Berry and country rock that John Prine has perfected.
Let's just say there are no songs about theft on this wholesome country-pop trio-turned-duo's second album, unless stolen hearts count. Yes, every single track here concerns puppy love -- even the one called "Town Drunk." Peppy single "Angel Eyes" sets the smitten-yet-intimidated tone ("There's a little bit of devil" in 'em), but the gently swaying "Amen," in which two lovers sheepishly blow off church, is the highlight: "Why don't we give that sweet red dress you wear so well the day off?" The one-two closing punch of "Girls Love to Shake It" and "Girls Look Hot in Trucks" is a hoot.
Toronto's Great Lake Swimmers know that, sometimes, the way to a person's heart is through their mind. In keeping, they offer clever, thought-provoking lyrics set against atmospheric '70s canyon rock. Sometimes their lo-fi ethos rubs up against wispy shades of Americana, which only adds to their charm. Lush violins and plucky mandolins dot "Ballad of a Fisherman's Wife," which is likely the quietest (yet most searing) protest song about the BP oil spill in the Gulf you'll ever hear. Other highlights include the breezy "Easy Come Easy Go," "New Wild Everywhere" and "On the Water."
After the adrenaline rush of Punching Bag's intro and title track, Josh Turner's fourth effort settles nicely into the traditional country groove fans have come to love. With a despondent-sounding piano, lonely slide guitar and Turner's deep voice, "Cold Shoulder" sounds like a classic tear-in-my-beer country song from days gone by. "Pallbearer," which features Iris DeMent's haunting vocals and Marty Stuart's mourning mandolin, is a stunning left-at-the-altar song that uses bereaved funeral images to make its point. Other highlights: "Whatcha Reckon," "For the Love of God" and "Left Hand Man."
With songs such as "Dallas Love," "My Texas" and "Flatland Farmer," it's pretty obvious that that titular "small town" lies somewhere in Texas. Elsewhere, "I'll Sing About Mine" rages against the Nashville machine, as Abbott sings, "The radio is full of rich folks singing 'bout places they've never seen." And while lyrics like these may suggest that Abbott has a chip on his shoulder, he still comes across as sincere and earnest rather than bitter. Other highlights include "Idalou," the rockin' "Hotty Toddy" and "Touch."
On his last album for Curb Records, Tim McGraw displays the same sense of adventure that has branded him somewhat of a Nashville maverick. Opener "Halo," with its ringing guitars and anthemic "whoa oh's," sounds more like Coldplay than anything previously heard by McGraw, yet somehow it works. "Right Back Atcha Babe" is a heavenly slice of '70s yacht rock, while "Only Human" -- which features R&B star Ne-Yo -- is a righteous bit of Quiet Storm. But let's face it: McGraw's strength is country, and there are plenty of highlights in that vein, including "Touchdown Jesus," "Hey Now" and "The One."
Lee Brice is an affable, well-rounded Nashville upstart who combines Toby Keith-style playful-rapscallion tunes with Bon Iver's ear for pretty sonic detail -- both the wordplay and the slightly arty studio flourishes are sharply tuned on Hard 2 Love. Aw-shucks hit "A Woman Like You" sets the tone; he drunkenly revels on "Parking Lot Party," convincingly mourns on "I Drive Your Truck" and sings the hell out of the strings-laden ballad "That Way Again." By track 11 it's probably redundant to be touting his love for "Beer," but ah, forget it, he's enjoying himself, and so are you.
There's a warm, exuberant, distinctly Bon Jovian rasp to Georgia troubadour Kip Moore's voice on this debut, led by the raucous, bluesy radio hit "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck" (which commemorates how excited the ladies got when a young Kip traded up from an Isuzu). The rest of Up All Night prefers gentle pop-country grace to grit: Mostly it's lost love, not hedonism, keeping him awake, so soft-lit jams hailing romances both doomed ("Crazy One More Time") and successfully consummated ("Hey Pretty Girl") dominate. If "Tunnel of Love" is your favorite Springsteen song, here's your jam.
"I cried when I got in my truck, so I put on my shades," belts the thinking man's arena-country megastar on his 14th album, summing up his winsome mix of virile cool and naked, pleasantly uncool sentimentality. The raucous "Feel Like a Rock Star" (featuring new touring bro Tim McGraw) will get lighters lit and fists pumped, but tear-jerkers rule here, particularly the grim fading-dad ode "While He Still Knows Who I Am." Otherwise, he reiterates that love is grand, but the beach will do in a pinch; as Whining About Fame songs go, the title track is cheerier than "Turn the Page," at least.
The Punch Brothers' debut was a mind-melting blend of "new grass," and their simpler sophomore record was a necessary demonstration of restraint. Their third balances the musical impulses that pull the band in several directions at once. The fluttering acoustic tapestry of "Movement and Location" sits comfortably in between bluegrass and reverb-soaked, atmospheric rock, while "This Girl" and "Patchwork Girlfriend" are coyly written. But the best stuff comes in the minor-key tunes, like "New York City," that gallop along at a breakneck pace. And yes, without plugging in, they cover Radiohead.
Zac Brown has described Uncaged as a "country-Southern rock-bluegrass-reggae-jam" record. It's quite a mouthful, but it's also an accurate tag for the band's multifaceted sound. Uncaged features shades of '70s lite rockers James Taylor("Goodbye in Her Eyes") and The Eagles ("Last But Not Least"), along with Southern rock ("Uncaged") and the breezy, country-tinged island sound of Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney ("Jump Right In," "Island Song"). Together, these shades saturate ZBB's sound with the kind of diverse, colorful palette that both country fans and jam-hungry hippies love.
After myriad comparisons to George Strait with his debut album, Easton Corbin is starting to figure out his own voice. "Dance Real Slow" is a lovely, laidback song about wanting to spend time with your loved one; Corbin's delivery -- quick and snappy on the verses, and "real slow" on the chorus -- propels this one over the top. "A Thing for You" is another simple charmer about how much better the world looks when in love. Adorned with slide guitar, fiddles and shuffling drums, this is neo-trad at its most appetizing. Other highlights: "All Over the Road," "Only a Girl" and "Lovin' You is Fun."
Comparisons to Mumford & Sons abound, especially with rustic party-anthem "Ho Hey"; both bands play in the same rootsy playground, and wash their sepia-tone sound with an indie aesthetic. But The Lumineers' kinship with wordsmiths such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen helps set them apart. Singer Wesley Schultz invokes shades of Dylan in both style and inflection on the lilting "Flowers in Your Hair," while "Slow It Down" does just that, with a sparse, haunting guitar accompanying Schultz's plaintive vocals, and "Big Parade" revs up the pace with simplistic rhythms, foot stomps and hand claps.
Rousing tales of small-town exhilaration? Check. Snarling electric guitars? Of course. A little rapping? Hell yeah. A deft, affable everybro superstar to sell it all? You know it. Jason Aldean asserts his country superstardom on album five, whether he's rhapsodizing the touring life ("Wheels Rollin'"), wooing a foxy lady (the excellent "Talk") or lamenting the plight of a stripper (the slightly ridiculous "Black Tears"). Luke Bryan and Eric Church drop some bars on "The Only Way I Know," but playful hick-hop oddity (and Joe Diffie tribute) "1994" is the biggest hoot. See him live.
After a foray into bluegrass, Dierks Bentley returns to a more mainstream country-rock sound on his sixth album. Opening with the supercharged "Am I the Only One," Home explodes right out of the gate. "Gonna Die Young" is an exuberant rocker that picks off where 2003's "What Was I Thinking" left off. "Tip It on Back" extols the pleasure of a post-work Friday beer, while "Diamonds Make Babies" connects the dot between getting engaged and what comes next. There are so many more winners ("Heart of a Lonely Girl," "When You Gonna Come Around"), Home is destined to be a classic.
This band's brand of earthy, sunshine-soaked Cosmic American Music was ahead of its time back at the start of the new millennium, but after two attempts to woo the masses, the L.A. quartet broke up. Nearly a dozen years later, they're back with their harmony-laced grooviness intact, capturing the warm, gentle breezes of Laurel Canyon in three-minute bursts. The joyous "Sparks Fly Again" sounds like The Partridge Family meeting The Allman Brothers on the road; "Forget the Song," with its bendy slide guitars and soft vocals, is a tranquil slice of heaven.
These indie folksters play it lean and mean, building from a sparse, sepia-toned palette to a more robust, old-timey sound that includes fiddle, shuffling drums and piano -- the perfect foil to Alynda Lee Segarra's dusty, weathered vocals. "Look Out Mama" burns slowly with fine boogie piano and fiddle interplay, and Segarra's expressive yodels. "Ramblin' Gal" sums up Segarra's life after running away from her home at age 17 to ride the rails, hobo-style. Also check out the '60s-inspired "Lake of Fire," the bluesy "What's Wrong With Me" and the honky-tonk-kissed "Go Out On the Road."
Marty Stuart has spent decades as a titan of Nashville -- "a country boy's Hollywood," as he describes it on this vibrant, rowdy romp that revels in its classic C&W sound without lapsing into cliché or anachronism. ("Taxpayer dollar ain't worth a dime / Government's got us in a bind," he howls on the timely title track.) There's a couple deft downer ballads (see "Holding on to Nothing"), a crazily fleet-fingered jam session ("Hollywood Boogie") and a Hank Williams classic ("Pictures From Life's Other Side") in duet with Hank III himself.
It's hard to keep still while listening to Old Crow Medicine Show: For a band with no drums, the propulsive sound of Carry Me Back is immediate and relentless. This is a good thing. Even on songs such as "Levi," which sadly chronicles the life of OCMS fan Leevi Barnard, who was shot and killed in Iraq, there is a lively exuberance to the band's old-timey sound that lightens the load of the lyrics. If they can do that to a sad song, just imagine what amped-up barnburners like "Bootlegger's Boy," "Mississippi Saturday Night" and the title track are like.
3 Pears proves you can't keep a quality artist down. "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke" is a storming barn-burner that picks up right where Yoakam left off years ago. The Beck-produced "Missing Heart" finds Yoakam singing, "I am an open wound/ In need of room/ With space to heal" -- with the glut of country songs about trucks and beer, it's nice to hear some real emotion! Lightening things up is the title track -- a jangling slice of rootsy pop with pristine arrangements evoking shades of Elvis Costello. Other highlights: "Long Way to Go," "Take Hold of My Hand" and the Byrds-y "Rock It All Away."
Sure, Little Big Town has had their moments (few songs are more infectious than the charged "Little White Church"), but the quartet's fifth album, Tornado, and its smash "Pontoon," should finally get the band firmly into the spotlight. Opener "Pavement Ends" is a rollickin' feel-good number that features awesome banjo pickin' and the band's signature harmonies, and "Can't Go Back" is an impressive showpiece for just how lush and blended these guys can get. Other highlights include the somber "On Your Side of the Bed," the woman-as-force-of-nature anthem "Tornado" and the quietly defiant "Sober."
This duo's second album has pins all over the American map. Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg harmonize like Appalachian twins. Their sweet yet somber indie-folk -- enhanced by mostly acoustic guitar, autoharp and keyboard -- has hints of Seattle's Fleet Foxes. They name-check Southern greats: "I'll be your Emmylou, and I'll be your June/ If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too." And it all comes freshly recorded from the heartland, with production from Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis (Conor Oberst guests on "King of the World"). It's all so convincing, you'll never believe they're Swedes.
Jamey Johnson is the most critically acclaimed country singer of his generation precisely because he throws curveballs like this: a warm, stately, duet-filled full-album tribute to songwriting legend Hank Cochran, he of "Make the World Go Away" (here co-starring Alison Krauss!) and "I Fall to Pieces" (Merle Haggard!) and such. The guest list is stellar (Strait, Costello, Womack, Gill), Johnson's tough but tender voice is a reassuring constant, and the songs are all-timers: Best in show is the Willie Nelson-abetted "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me." Note the lack of a question mark.
These hard-touring alt-folk sensations are in fine, appropriately workmanlike form on The Carpenter, mixing sweet sensitive-bro balladry with just the hint of a hard-rock snarl (see "Paul Newman vs. the Demons," in which the victor is left ambiguous). There's a totally ripping banjo solo on "Live and Die," lovely horns on "Down with the Shine" and some splendid string-section action on the aching, expertly harmonized closer, "Life." But at a brisk 1:37, the sweetly rollicking "Geraldine" almost walks away with this thing. Bet it kills live.
100 Proof marks Kellie Pickler's ticket to the big leagues. Eschewing country-flavored pop for a more traditional sound, Pickler's Southern twang thrives -- and has never commanded as much attention. The tender "Long As I Never See You Again" highlights her lower register as she gently coos over an acoustic guitar. "Where's Tammy Wynette" is a sassy slice of old-school where she ruminates, "I stay torn between killing him and loving him/ He stays torn between neon lights and home." Other highlights include "Unlock That Honky Tonk," "Stop Cheatin' on Me" and "Little House on the Highway."
Alan Jackson's 14th studio album finds the singer with a new label (his own), a new parent company (EMI) and what sounds like a renewed love affair with traditional country. Jackson's experience shows on Thirty Miles West, as he chooses songs that highlight his deep twang. The album's most personal offering, "When I Saw You Leaving (For Nicey)," Jackson sings about his wife's battle with cancer. Other highlights include the breezy "You Go Your Way," the fiddle-kissed Zac Brown rave-up "Dixie Highway," the twangin' "Look Her in the Eye and Lie" and the down-to-earth "Nothin' Fancy."
