DISClaimer Single Reviews: Mickey Guyton Delivers A ‘Stunning Listening Experience’

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Mickey Guyton

This sure sounds like a good weekend for music.

Four of our DISClaimer candidates are performing in Music City over the next several days—Russell Dickerson, Onoleigh, Jet Black Roses and Gary Nicholson. I recommend them all.

This is also a good week for solid, meat-and-potatoes country music. I refer you to the new sounds from Zach Top & Billy Strings, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Willie Nelson & Rodney Crowell, William Beckmann and Tucker Wetmore. This makes my heart feel so good.

William Beckmann, by the way, is our DisCovery Award winner.

The Disc of the Day is claimed by the spectacular vocal delivery of Mickey Guyton.

TUCKER WETMORE / “3, 2, 1”
Writers: Jordan Reynolds/Josh Miller/Summer Overstreet; Producer: Chris LaCorte; Label: EMI Nashville/Back Blocks Music
– Twangin’ dobro, thumping propulsion, joyous mood, cool country singer… What’s not to love? Wetmore drops his debut album next month. Based on what I’ve heard so far, it’s bound to be a winner.

MICKEY GUYTON / “You Don’t Know Me at All”
Writer: Dave Jordan; Producer: Karen Kosowski; Label: Capitol Records Nashville
– Guyton drew a standing ovation for her performance of this power ballad on Monday’s Ringo & Friends at the Ryman TV special. As a single, it’s a stunning listening experience, with goosebumps popping up all over when she rolls into that chorus. This lady can SING. Listen and believe.

GARY NICHOLSON / “What a Little Love Can Do”
Writers: Gary Nicholson/Stephen Bruton; Producers: Gary Nicholson, Kevin McKendree; Label: Qualified Records
– This Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member is also a performer of warmth and personality. You’ll hear it for yourself on this jangly country rocker. It’s the lead-off track of his groovy album Common Sense. Nicholson will be celebrating it with his pals on Saturday evening (March 15) at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. Showtime is 9:00 p.m.

WILLIE NELSON & RODNEY CROWELL / “Oh What a Beautiful World”
Writer: Rodney Crowell; Producer: Buddy Cannon; Label: Legacy Recordings
– Pure poetry, to the accompaniment of sighing harmonica, rippling guitars and a gently rolling rhythm. This is the title tune of an album devoted to Crowell’s songs that Willie will issue as his 154th collection. It’s due next month, but while you wait, immerse yourself in this dreamy, bittersweet meditation on the passage of time. A lovely, lovely record.

BRAD PAISLEY & DAWES / “Raining Inside”
Writers: Brad Paisley/Lee Thomas Miller/Taylor Goldsmith; Producers: Brad Paisley, Luke Wooten; Label: EMI Nashville
– The country star and the rock band create a stately bluesy mood on this downbeat ballad. Stay tuned for the guitar fireworks at the finale.

TIM McGRAW & PARKER McCOLLUM / “Paper Umbrellas”
Writers: Drake Milligan/Monty Criswell; Producers: Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw; Label: Big Machine Records
– Advice and barroom sympathy from one broken heart to another. The rolling track is terrific, and the well-crafted lyric is even better. Absolutely play this.

RUSSELL DICKERSON / “Happen to Me”
Writers: Chase McGill/Christopher LaCorte/Jessie Jo Dillon/Robert Hazard/Russell Dickerson; Producers: Chris LaCorte, Josh Kerr, Russell Dickerson; Label: Triple Tigers
– Tap your foot. This one’s a good-time banger with energy that doesn’t let up. Perfect for a springtime playlist. Born showman Dickerson plays at the new venue The Pinnacle tomorrow evening (March 14).

DOLLY PARTON / “If You Hadn’t Been There”
Writer: Dolly Parton; Producers: Gregg Perry, Kent Wells; Label: Butterfly Records
– Our hearts are heavy for our beloved Dolly, who has lost her life’s companion. She pours her heart out in this tender eulogy for Carl. I choked up. There is love behind every tear-stained note of this performance.

ONOLEIGH / “Bottomless Tears”
Writers: Ally Sou/Emile Ghantous/Josh Goode/Onoleigh Pommier/Sam SZND; Producer: Emile Ghantous; Label: Onoleigh
– Raising a glass to a busted love affair. She sings this with remarkable force and confidence, crushing the message with clarity and emotional directness. She sounds like a total pro. The lady performs this evening (March 13) at 6:00 p.m. at The Analog. It’s a release party for her EP First Rodeo. I am told that she puts on a great show.

ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION / “Granite Mills”
Writer: Timothy Eriksen; Producer: Alison Krauss & Union Station; Label: Down The Road Records
– Esteemed bluegrass star Russell Moore has joined Union Station, and he takes the gripping lead vocal on this tragic, factory-fire story saga. This is a traditional tune, based on the 1874 burning of a textile mill in New York State. Heart and soul in every note of this thrilling tenor’s singing. This will be on the group’s comeback album, Arcadia, which drops on March 28.

WILLIAM BECKMANN / “Honky Tonk Blue”
Writers: Chris Stapleton/William Brice Long; Producer: Jon Randall; Label: Warner Music Nashville
– The title says it all. Magnificently country. This is the real stuff, folks. Can I get a loud, “Amen!”

ZACH TOP & BILLY STRINGS / “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown”
Writers: Ray Pennington/Roy Eugene Marcum; Producer: Carson Chamberlain; Label: Leo33
– Hillbilly nirvana. These two one-up each other in awesome honky-tonk vocal slides and dazzling guitar-string tickling as they navigate this Stanley Brothers bluegrass classic made famous by Ricky Skaggs in 1984. Music to warm your country heart.

JET BLACK ROSES / “Psychoboogie Hoochiecoo”
Writers: none listed; Producer: Greg Archilla; Label: JBR
– Funky, horn-punctuated Southern rock with some built-in grease. Other tracks show that the group is equally at home in country settings. This outfit will be jamming at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row on Lower Broadway tonight (March 13) at 8:00 p.m.

Robert K Oermann
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