DISClaimer Single Reviews: Harper Grace & Kelsey Hart Impress With New Duet

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We’ve got big country stars on tap today, but the listening session shows that the most innovative sounds are coming from the upstarts.

Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett are batting a thousand with their new releases. But Dasha, Kashus Culpepper, Kassi Ashton and Charley Crockett might have the most ear-catching new releases.

I’m a sucker for a great country duet, and we have one here. It’s “Freedom” by Curb’s Harper Grace and Kelsey Hart, and it wins the Disc of the Day.

The DisCovery awardee also sounds fresh and novel. It’s a cowboy named Mike Schikora. Lend him your ears.

HARPER GRACE & KELSEY HART / “Freedom”
Writers: Kelsea Ballerini/Justin Ebach/Charles Kelley; Producers: Cameron Jaymes, Ben West; Label: Curb
– They’ve broken up, but are far from over one another. Both singers sound simply splendid on this ultra-tuneful, ultra-rhythmic, pulsating rush of sound. The luscious harmonies and soaring melody alternate with conversational bits that catch your ear. I would love to hear this in my car on the radio. A lot.

THOMAS RHETT / “Overdrive”
Writers: Thomas Rhett/Jacob Kasher Hindlin/John Ryan/Julian Bunetta; Producers: Dan Huff, Julian Bunetta, John Ryan; Label: Valory
– The wooshing breeze of summer romance wafts through this bopping ride in the back of a pickup truck. Rhett’s effortless vocal exudes mellow confidence while the country-pop track thumps and crashes around him. Audio excellence.

KASHUS CULPEPPER / “Who Hurt You”
Writers: Kashus Culpepper/Mark Addison Chandler; Producer: Brian Elmquist; Label: Big Loud
– Armed with just his guitar and an extraordinary voice, this guy completely touches your heart. His lyric about an emotionally wounded guy whose parents divorced, whose lover left him and whose government sent his friends to war aches with honesty and believability. This guy is among the most traditionally “country” of the more than two dozen Black country artists now emerging. He shares that status with Dalton Dover, Scoot Teasley, Chapel Hart, Julie Williams, Aaron Vance and only a handful of others.

GRETCHEN WILSON / “Little Miss Runner Up”
Writers: Gretchen Wilson/Rivers Rutherford/George Teren; Producer: Gretchen Wilson; Label: Redneck Records
– A trashy hussy is on the loose and she’s after your man, so look out. Wilson is singing with as much moxie as ever, but I don’t like the muddy, messy, cluttered way this is mixed.

GRAHAM BARHAM / “Shoot the Lock”
Writers: Graham Barham/John Pierce/Lindsay Rimes/Michael Whitworth; Producers: none listed; Label: Sony
– Who thought it was a good idea to put this hillbilly vocal with hip-hop beats? Irritating to my ears.

JASON ALDEAN / “Whiskey Drink”
Writers: John Edwards/John Morgan/Kurt Allison/Tully Kennedy; Producer: Michael Knox; Label: BBR/BMG
– A broken hearted man begs “Jack,” his whiskey drink, to blot out his thoughts and memories about her. Very well written: Roaring desperation and barroom misery have never sounded better.

KASSI ASHTON / “Son of a Gun”
Writers: Kassi Ashton/Jason Nix/Driver Williams; Producers: Luke Laird, Kassi Ashton; Label: MCA Nashville/Interscope
– Rollicking country rock with a charming tomboy lyric. This gal has always had the goods, vocally. Now she’s found a sound that suits her pipes.

MIRANDA LAMBERT / “Ain’t In Kansas Anymore”
Writers: Miranda Lambert/Jesse Frasure/Jenee Fleenor; Producers: Jesse Frasure; Label: Atlantic
– This crunchy, dynamite blast plays under the end scene of the new cinema thrill ride Twisters. Love the whirling production as well as her feisty vocal. This much-awarded woman still rules my heart.

CHARLEY CROCKETT / “America”
Writers: Billy Horton/Charley Crockett; Producers: Billy Horton, Charley Crockett; Label: Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers
– Crockett has been hitting the road with superhuman energy for years, as well as recording more prolifically than any other country act. He issues his 14th album in less than a decade this month. Meanwhile, we have this excellent, bluesy, horn-embellished meditation on his home. The lyric waits patiently for America to make good on her promises while the singer traverses the land. Also: His cover of “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” is on the Twisters soundtrack. Crockett’s two Ryman shows next weekend (July 26 and July 27) are both sold out.

MIKE SCHIKORA / “Last Rose of Summer”
Writers: Mike Schikora/Rory Payne; Producers: Michael Bonagura, Kathie Baillie; Label: MS
– Vocal harmonies by Baillie & The Boys and wafting harmonica accents embellish this gentle waltz. It’s a sweet, simple, touching marriage proposal that is very emotionally affecting. Also check out Schikora’s light yodeling on his equally nice track “Back Under Montana Skies.”

T. GRAHAM BROWN & ZACH WILLIAMS / “When a Man Loves a Woman”
Writers: Calvin Lewis/Andrew Wright; Producers: T. Graham Brown, Cole Johnstone, Billy Lawson; Label: Warner/ADA
– Brown’s upcoming album is titled From Memphis to Muscle Shoals. It features collaborations with Wynonna, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Houser, Delbert McClinton and previously-reviewed Tanya Tucker (”Dark End of the Street”), as well as a cluster of soul stars. This new Opry member is always worth listening to. Here, he swaps lines effectively with CCM star Zach Williams on a 1966 Percy Sledge classic, previously brought to the country hit parade by John Wesley Ryles in the 1970s and by Narvel Felts in the 1980s.

DASHA / “Didn’t I”
Writers: Ben Johnson/Emily Weisband/Anna Dasha Novotny; Producer: Ben Johnson; Label: Warner
– Against her better intentions, she’s back with the lousy guy she already dumped. Written with wit. Produced with merry banjo plunking and thumpy dance beats. Very clever pop country. Her dance moves in the video are ace, too. The irresistibly catchy “Austin” remains the single, and its video has her out on the dancefloor as well. I have a hunch she’s big fun in concert.

Robert K Oermann
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