Country music has returned.

With Sunny Sweeney, Merle Haggard and newcomer Glenn Kearney leading the charge, this listening session was packed with hard-core sounds. There’s not a pop platter in the stack.

A lot of this week’s tunes are ballads, but some of these sounds can really rock your world.  Definitely turn it up when you put on Sunny, Kyle Park or our Disc of the Day winner, MCA’s Kip Moore. I was a huge fan of Kip’s “Mary Was the Marrying Kind,” and “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” delivers on that initial promise in spades.

Honky-tonk balladeer Kearney competes with Canada’s Ashley Robertson, New Orleans newcomer Josh Charles and Sea Gayle/Arista’s Brent Anderson for this week’s DisCovery Award. Inventive songsmith Brent gets the nod.

KYLE PARK/Make Or Break Me
Writer: Kyle Park/Ryan Beaver; Producer: Kyle Park; Publisher: Walk in the Park/St. Beaver, BMI; Winning Road (track) (www.kylepark.com)
—Produced with plenty of oomph—crashing guitars, thudding percussion, slippery steel and admirable energy. The driving, melodic country rocker has a splendid undertow beneath his boyish tenor delivery. Listenable in the extreme.

SUNNY SWEENEY/Drink Myself Single
Writer: Monty Holmes/Sunny Sweeney; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Funky Merle/EMI April/Ash Street/Richardson Zuleger/Bluewater/Big Music Machine/Three Minute Movie/Super 98, ASCAP/BMI; Republic Nashville (track)
—It’s a gutsy, gal honky-tonker loaded with drawling attitude. The steel-soaked track stirs up a ruckus while she serves notice that she’s going on a tear. It’s enough to make you believe in real country music all over again. Grade: A-plus.

GLENN KEARNEY/Broken Heart
Writer: Tommy Barnes; Producer: Steve Tveit; Publisher: Glenn Kearney, BMI; GK (www.glennkearneymusic.com)
—His aching baritone is as warm as a campfire on this weeper ballad. Classic sounding.

BRENT ANDERSON/Amy’s Song
Writer: none listed; Producer: Frank Rogers; Publisher: none listed; Sea Gayle/Arista (track)
—I like his soft, lightly rasping vocal delivery on this yearning salute to the Pure Prairie League 1975 hit “Amie.” The group’s alumni Craig Fuller and Vince Gill provide the vocal harmonies.

JOSH CHARLES/Life Ain’t Fair
Writer: Josh Charles/Milton L. Brown; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Downhome (www.joshcharlesmusic.com)
—This downbeat, hard-luck-in-hard-times lament is performed at a languid, resigned pace that underscores its message of defeat. Definitely a song for today.

JOSH THOMPSON/Change
Writer: Josh Thompson/Phil O’Donnell/Chris Wallin; Producer: Phil O’Donnell; Publisher: none listed, BMI/ASCAP; Columbia (CDX)
—The lyric’s message is the more things change, the more they stay the same. Josh’s plain-spoken delivery is set to a deliberate, shuffling tempo underscored by sighing, keening electric guitar work. At first listen, it seems a mite dull, but I have a feeling it could grow on me.

KIP MOORE/Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck
Writer: Kip Moore/Dan Couch; Producer: Brett James; Publisher: Music of Stage Three/Songs of Comman/Roll Through/BMG Chrysalis/Songs From the Couch, BMI; MCA Nashville (CDX)
—This former DisCovery Award winner has a cool, blue-collar-rocker vibe that gets more and more intense as this thumper progresses. I dig everything about this—the way it’s written, the way he wails it, the insistent percussion, the instrumental fade, everything.

FREDDY POWERS & MERLE HAGGARD/Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn
Writer: Freddy Powers; Producer: Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers & Lou Bradley; Publisher: Air Fred, BMI; Hag (CDX) (www.freddypowers.com)
—Powers is a veteran country-jazz fusion man who has always been cooler than the breeze. He and Hag swap lines with warmth, camaraderie and gentle swingability here, while his guitar filligrees embellish the the track beautifully. The sound of two masters at work.

ASHLEY ROBERTSON/Return to Me
Writer: Ashley Robertson; Producer: Ashley Robertson; Publisher: none listed, SOCAN; AR (Canada) (www.ashleyrobertson.com)
—Minor key, melodically repetitive and faintly Celtic sounding. Utterly unprogramable.

SEAN PATRICK McGRAW/What I’d Do
Writer: Sean Patrick McGraw/Ann Chappell/Jason Jones; Producer: Sean Patrick McGraw; Publisher: none listed, ASCAP; Little Engine (track) (www.seanpatrickmcgraw.com)
—This longtime Music Row fave is back with a shuddering ballad of heartbreak and regret. The song is so tuneful and ultra hooky that if his version doesn’t strike paydirt, somebody else should cover it pronto. A super effort.

Talk about eclectic.

This stack of platters contains everything from Johnny Rivers doing acoustic pop on a soul oldie to Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s new group swinging through a jazzbo Bob Wills standard. There’s a disc of reggae performances of country songs, as well as a stunning country-rock set by Richie Owens & The Farm Bureau.

It will come as no surprise to anybody that Lady Antebellum has the Disc of the Day. “We Owned the Night” will own your ears.

It might come as more of a shock to find that hit country writer Dave Berg has a dazzling, unclassifiable and brilliantly produced pop platter up his sleeve. Give that man a DisCovery Award.

PAUL NUNN/Bein’ Strong
Writer: Albert Maylen; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed, BMI; PN (www.paulnunnband.com)
—This cleanly produced country ballad is an audio pleasure. He sings in a pure heartache tenor, and the band knows exactly when to fill in notes and when to shut up. Which is the mark of true country artistry.

LADY ANTEBELLUM/We Owned The Night
Writer: Dave Haywood/Charles Kelley/Dallas Davidson; Producer: Paul Worley & Lady Antebellum; Publisher: Warner Tamerlane/DWHaywood/Radiobulletspublishing/EMI Blackwood/String Stretcher, BMI; Capitol Nashville (MP3)
—The tingling mandolin notes give way to Charles’s robo cool voice and then to a firestorm of thudding percussion, vocal harmony, rocking guitar and a shout-to-the-heavens melody. Those little yelps of joy don’t hurt, either. In a word, Awesome.

JEFF DAYTON/Never Been Better
Writer: Dayton; Producer: Jeff Dayton; Publisher: Jeff Dayton, BMI; Little House (track) (www.jeffdaytonmusic.com)
—Getting older doesn’t have to be a downer. His old man “might’ve been stronger, faster, younger,” but he’s “never been better.” What a cool attitude, and the rocking track backs it up all the way.

BILLY RAY CYRUS/Nineteen
Writer: Gary Nicholson/Jeffrey Steele/Tom Hambridge; Producer: Buddy Cannon; Publisher: Sony-ATV Cross Keys/Gary Nicholson/Jeffrey Steele/Bug/Songs of Windswept Pacific/Tom Hambridge, ASCAP/BMI; Buena Vista (track)
—The number 19 is on the high school football star’s jersey. It’s also the age when he dies at war as a hero. Stirring stuff. Billy Ray’s entire I’m American CD is loaded with well written tunes in this vein. Worth your while.

DAVE BERG/Believed In
Writer: Dave Berg; Producer: Dave Berg & John Hurley; Publisher: Cal IV/Stupid Boy, ASCAP; DB (track) (www.daveberg.com)
—Top Music Row tunesmith Berg has a new, 14-song showcase titled Not Quite So Alone. It doesn’t contain any of the many hits he has written for others. Instead, it is full of solo-written (gasp!) gems like this pop-ish, rhythmic set opener. The production dazzles and his dry, earnest, folkie vocals are quite engaging. Seek this one out—it is a really refreshing audio change of pace.

LUKE BRYAN/I Don’t Want This Night To End
Writer: Luke Bryan/Dallas Davidson/Rhett Akins/Ben Hayslip; Producer: Jeff Stevens; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree/Peanut Mill/EMI Blackwood/String Stretcher/Rhettneck/WB/Melissa’s Money/Get a Load of This, BMI/ASCAP; Capitol Nashville (track)
—The monotonic verses don’t do much for me, but the soaring choruses sure do take off.

RICHIE OWENS & THE FARM BUREAU/Rye Whiskey
Writer: none listed; Producer: Bil VornDick & Richie Owens; Publisher: Indian Gap, ASCAP; Red Dirt (track) (www.richieowensandthefarmbureau.com)
—Veteran Nashvillians will recall Richie as a valued fixture of our music community of long standing. He’s Dolly Parton’s cousin and has played in her band. He’s also worked with a wide variety of others, including Leon Russell, The Georgia Satellites, Vince Gill, Steve Forbert, Jason & The Scorchers, The Kentucky Headhunters and The Bangles. His new band, The Farm Bureau, tears this folk standard to shreds and reconstructs it as a churning, frothing Americana rocker. By the way, the rest of Richie and his band’s CD is absolutely and equally superb.

ROMAIN VIRGO & LARRY GATLIN/California
Writer: Larry Gatlin; Producer: Cristy Barber, John Rich, Dean Fraser, Charlie Pennachio, Chris Chin & Raymond Barber; Publisher: MCA/Sony-ATV Tree/Parker Lou, no performance rights listed; Elektra (track)
—Reggae’s Gone Country is a new, various-artists collection that revisits country classics (”King of the Road,” “Wolverton Mountain,” “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” “The Gambler,” “Flowers on the Wall,” etc.) as reggae tracks. The only one of the songs’ originators to show up for the revamp is Gatlin, and dang if he doesn’t pull it off. Way to go. For another ear-opener, check out Tarrus Riley’s rhythm-happy take on “The Chair.”

JOHNNY RIVERS/I’ve Got To Use My Imagination
Writer: Barry Goldberg/Gerry Goffin; Producer: Johnny Rivers; Publisher: Screen Gems EMI, BMI; Soul City
—Johnny Rivers’s recent visit to Music City included a well-received guest spot on the Grand Ole Opry. His take on this Gladys Knight & The Pips classic strips it down to a swampy, acoustic-based lament. He remains a pre-eminent blue-eyed soul man.

THE WRONGLERS/Time Changes Everything
Writer: Tommy Duncan; Producer: Eric Drew Feldman & Jimmie Dale Gilmore; Publisher: Red River Songs, no performance rights listed; Neanderthal (track) (www.thewronglers.com)
—The four words that follow “The Wronglers” on the jacket are “featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore.” And that’s about all you need to know. The album title tells you the rest, Heirloom Music. The songs are string-band chestnuts performed by this sterling ensemble with the ethereal voice of Gilmore in the lead. Originators include Bill Monroe, The Carter Family, The Delmore Brothers, Charlie Poole, Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Bond, Doc Watson and, as is the case here, Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys. Old-time music lovers or those charmed by the O Brother sounds, step right up.

We sometimes forget that the Americana field has more than its share of name-brand stars.
Amid the hundreds of unclassifiable, and usually forgettable, acts who populate this genre are a number of folks who are justifiably famous throughout the music world. In recent country columns, we have noted the new releases by Emmylou Harris, Michael Martin Murphey, Ricky Skaggs, Gene Watson & Rhonda Vincent, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kasey Chambers and Buddy Miller, all of whom fit comfortably under the Americana umbrella.
Today, we have such stellar contributors as Steve Earle, Jakob Dylan, The Avett Brothers and Gillian Welch on our desk. Our Disc of the Day goes to someone who should be just as well known as they are, Sugar Hill’s Sarah Jarosz.
The DisCovery Award goes not to a person, but to a thing. It is a highly inventive, home-grown Nashville concept album called The 1861 Project.
GILLIAN WELCH/The Way It Goes
Writer: Welch/Rawlings; Producer: David Rawlings; Publisher: Acony/Do Write/3rd Revision/Bug, BMI; Acony (track)
—If Gillian’s music on her new The Harrow & The Harvest CD had a color, it would be sepia. On this track, as throughout, her guitar intertwines delicately with David Rawlings’ instrument. The fatalistic/nonsense lyric is given a typically dry reading with David drawling harmony on the title phrase. The whole collection is somewhat same-y sounding, but their groove is so hypnotic that it really doesn’t matter.
PATTY GRIFFIN/I Love
Writer: Tom T. Hall; Producer: Peter Cooper & Eric Brace; Publisher: Sony, BMI; Red Beet/CMF (track) (www.songsoffoxhollow.com)
—The tribute CD I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow begins with Patty’s luminous rendition of the songwriter’s most famous “children’s” song. Lloyd Green’s steel guitar sighs sympathetically behind her. Elsewhere on the album, Buddy Miller gets to do a delightful “Sneaky Snake.” Bobby Bare sings “I Care.” Jim Lauderdale essays “I Like to Feel Pretty Inside.” Tom T., himself, drops by to help Fayssoux Starling McLean perform the set’s one new song, “I Made a Friend of a Flower Today.” Ditties such as “Everybody Loves to Hear a Bird Sing,” “The Song of the One-Legged Chicken,” “How to Talk to a Little Baby Goat” and “I Wish I Had a Million Friends” are recommended for children of all ages.
MINTON SPARKS/Her Purse
Writer: Minton Sparks/John Jackson; Producer: Brandon Bell & Kristin Tschida; Publisher: Mountain Sparks, ASCAP; Mountain Sparks (track)
—Minton Sparks is arguably Nashville’s most creative entertainer. She inhabits the character of a middle-aged Southern lady. Her pieces are spoken, with John Jackson’s guitar providing audio coloring. She always carries a pocketbook on stage, so beginning her current CD with this track describing the contents and the sentiment of her mother’s is perfectly suitable. She is best experienced in person, but Minton Sparks Performing Live at The Station Inn in the Heart of Downtown Nashville is the next best thing.
STEVE EARLE/This City
Writer: Steve Earle; Producer: T Bone Burnett; Publisher: Exile on Jones St., ASCAP; New West (track) (www.steveearle.com)
—Steve wrote this for the New Orleans based HBO television series Treme, on which he appears in one of the secondary roles. Or did, until his character was shot dead last season. It is a brooding ballad of the city’s steadfast refusal to drown. His bluesy delivery is backed by stuttering trumpet, slow bass thumping and strummed acoustic guitar, all of which are just stark enough to put the focus firmly on the message. Grammy and Emmy nominated, it appears on his terrific new CD I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive, which is his most “country” collection in years. His debut novel, also out now, has the same title.
PEGI YOUNG/Foul Deeds
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Vapor (track) (www.pegiyoung.com)
—The title tune of the album by Neil Young’s wife Pegi is a loping waltz about abandonment. Her light soprano has a tart/sweet quality that sounds best on starker tracks like this one, rather than on the more electrified ones.
SARAH JAROSZ/Run Away
Writer: Sarah Jarosz/Alissa Bonagura; Producer: Gary Paczosa & Sarah Jarosz; Publisher: SoRaw/Almo/My Plum Songs/Alright Love!, BMI/ASCAP; Sugar Hill (track) (www.sarahjarosz.com)
—She tours on the bluegrass circuit, but her music is really closer to acoustic pop. This lead-off track of her new Follow Me Down CD captures how blissfully airy and haunting she can be. Instruments swirl in jazzy circles around her hushed, fluttering vocal. This woman is essential listening.
JAKOB DYLAN/Down On Our Own Shield
Writer: Jakob Dylan; Producer: T Bone Burnett; Publisher: Sugarmoonmusic, ASCAP; Columbia (track)
—I’m rather late in writing about this, but Jakob’s Women + Country album has been a nearly constant presence on my house sound system for months. With the aid of the ubiquitous Mr. Burnett, Bob’s son has achieved a stunningly ear grabbing sound that combines earthy rhythm, echoey twang and campfire folk. Harmony vocals by Neko Case and Kelly Hogan are particularly noteworthy. I chose this rumination, but you can “drop the needle” on “Everybody’s Hurting,” “Nothing But the Whole Wide World” or any of the other tracks and fall in love with this extraordinary record.
THE AVETT BROTHERS/Murder In The City
Writer: none listed; Producer: Rick Rubin; Publisher: none listed; American Recordings (track) (www.theavettbrothers.com)
—As a general rule, I don’t like live albums. But this is one group whose superb recorded works are sometimes outshone by its concert performances. The Avett Brothers Live, Volume 3 is not some “filler” release between studio recordings. Rather, it is an exciting document that stands on its own as a listening experience. If you’re already a fan, your favorites (”I and Love and You” for instance) are probably here. This starkly strummed family portrait is greeted with wild cheers by the crowd. But, then, so is just about everything else.
JOHN ANDERSON/The Turning Of A Field
Writer: Stan Webb/Thomm Jutz/Peter Cronin; Producer: Thomm Jutz; Publisher: Stan Webb/Thomm Songs/Samoline, SESAC; Cohesion Arts (track) (www.1861project.com)
—The 1861 Project is an ambitious song cycle about the Civil War. This 17-song CD is subtitled, “Volume 1: From Farmers to Foot Soldiers.” The unmistakable voice of John Anderson kicks things off with this evocative portrait of a man plowing his land as war winds rise in the distance. Other notables who portray the various songs’ characters include Irene Kelley, Marty Stuart, John Brannen, Richard Dobson and Dana Cooper. Impressive acoustic-folk work.
ROBERT ELLIS/What’s In It For Me
Writer: Robert Ellis; Producer: Robert Ellis & Paul Moore; Publisher: Roger Elvis/New West Independent, BMI; New West (track) (www.robertellismusic.com)
—This ballad from his Photographs CD is carefully arranged with an echoey background vocal chorus, deliberately chorded piano and a judiciously played steel guitar. The Texan’s trembling vocal of a loser coming home is note perfect.

It’s nice to know that country hasn’t forgotten its sense of humor.
Reckless Kelly’s “Good Luck & True Love” made me smile because of its cleverness. Sam Roark found me grinning from ear to ear with her merry “Check Out Girl.” Buddy Jewell had me openly chuckling from his performance of “Jesus, Elvis & Me.” And, trust me, you have GOT to listen to “No Beer Here” by Amy Ames. It is a complete hoot.
There was no contest for the DisCovery Award. Our winner is clearly Casey James. He might come from American Idol, but this Texan is more than a karaoke singer. He can actually play the guitar.
Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones of the duo Steel Magnolia recently became engaged to be married. Let me be the first with a congratulations gift, a Disc of the Day prize.
BILL GENTRY/This Letter
Writer: Arlos Smith/Rick Giles/Walker Hayes; Producer: Chad Carlson; Publisher: Jeff, Jack and the Mule/Plaid Cactus/1808/Purple Cape/Breaking New Ground/On a Walk/Sony-ATV Tree, SESAC/BMI; Tenacity (www.billgentrynatioin.com)
—The track is gorgeous, full of echoey bass, sighing steel, deftly twanged guitar and swooping fiddle. The producer seems to have fallen in love with it, too, for it sometimes threatens to overwhelm the clearly enunciated tenor vocal. The song’s too-predictable lyric is a case of romantic mistaken identity. The track fades with the same lovely instrumental work that introduces it. Worth some spins.
STEEL MAGNOLIA/Bulletproof
Writer: Lori McKenna/Chris Tompkins; Producer: Dann Huff; Publisher: Melanie Howard/Big Loud Songs, ASCAP; Big Machine (track)
—These newly engaged kids sing their faces off on this snarky rocker about surviving a bitter breakup. Meghan, in particular, is white-hot vocally here. Splendidly listenable.
MICHAEL MANDELLA/Simple Things
Writer: Eddie Cunningham/Jeffrey Steele; Producer: Michael Mandella; Publisher: none listed; MMM (track) (www.michaelmandellamusic.com)
—This slab of California beefcake (he’s posing shirtless on the CD cover) has titled his album American Outlaw. But its debut single is an attempt at down-the-center country balladry. I say, “attempt” because all the echo chamber in the world can’t hide those vocal pitch disasters. We’re talking painful, people.
CASEY JAMES/Let’s Don’t Call It A Night
Writer: Casey James/Brice Long/Terry McBride; Producer: Chris Lindsey; Publisher: EMI Foray/Songs of Send Me the Checks/Orbison/Turn Me On/BMG Chrysalis, SESAC/BMI; 19/BNA
—Another day, another American Idol alumnus. This one finished third on the show in 2010. His single is a nicely bluesy outing with a slow-burn, come-on lyric. Promising.
RECKLESS KELLY/Good Luck & True Love
Writer: Willy Braun; Producer: David Abeyta, Cody Braun & Willie Braun; Publisher: C&P Fah-Q, BMI; No Big Deal (track) (www.recklesskelly.com)
—I’ve always liked these guys. Their latest Austin outing is the album title tune that bops along with a personable vocal drawl, jingle-jangle guitars and cool “answering” harmony voices. In addition to great music, this project has spectacular graphics. Buy it.
BUDDY JEWELL/Jesus, Elvis & Me
Writer: Chris Stapleton/Tim James; Producer: Michael Bush & Buddy Jewell; Publisher: EMI April/Harry Fox/New Sea Gayle/Play Fairchild, ASCAP; Diamond Dust (CDX)
—Highly entertaining. The neo-rockabilly track gallops along while the lyric rattles off witty Elvis and holy-roller one liners. One favorite: “She loves to hear the preachin’ at a Southern revival/She takes a custom-made, blue-suede King James Bible.” Another: “She was singing ‘Rock of Ages’ first line third verse/It was all that I could do to keep from fallin’ in love/When she followed ‘Hallelujah’ with ‘thankyouverymuch.’”
AMY AMES/No Beer Here
Writer: Amy Ames/Eddie Hedges; Producer: Eddie Hedges; Publisher: Amy Ames/Eddie Hedges, BMI; Grand Channel (CDX) (www.amyames.com)
—This toe tapper has zippy fiddling, dandy banjo plunking and hilarious backup men practically burping their lines. The whole thing is so goofy and zany that it doesn’t even matter that she can just barely sing. Must be heard to be believed.
JOANNA MOSCA & RICHIE McDONALD/Where Does Good Love Go
Writer: Tania Hancheroff/Jimmy Ritchey/Billy Lawson; Producer: Bryan White; Publisher: Universal/Z Tunes/Fox Ridge/Artone, BMI/ASCAP; Dolce Diva (CDX) (917-701-5914)
—Richie leads things off with his hearty tenor. Her pert delivery takes over for a couple of lines before he begins harmonizing expertly. The mid-tempo tune is quite nicely penned. Another plus: it’s as country as grits.
NICK VERZOSA/She Only Loves Me When I’m Leavin’
Writer: Nick Verzosa/Matt Harlan; Producer: Walt Wilkins; Publisher: Tiyaga/Ghost Moon, BMI; Indie Extreme (www.nickverzosa.com)
—Send this to remedial melody camp. Uptempo dullsville.
SAM ROARK/Check Out Girl
Writer: Ron Davies/Ron Kimbro/Michael Witty; Producer: Joe Sun; Publisher: Meeshides/Cheap Cigar/Sleepover Boy, ASCAP; KAT (www.samroark.com)
—Samantha sings the sprightly, smiling tale of the grocery check-out gal who steals the cash from the register, hits the road with a touring band and then ditches the guys by taking off in their bus. I like the little breaks in her voice, the dobro-laced production and the rollicking tempo. Delightfully different.

They don’t call it “Country Music City,” just Music City.
And there’s a heck of a lot more going on here than honky-tonk tunes. In addition to hosting the pop-crossover success of Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem,” the Hot 100 features Ke$ha’s “Blow” as well as the runaway top-10 smash “Tonight Tonight” by our own Hot Chelle Rae.
Let’s see—Paramore has a single called “Monster” on the Transformers soundtrack, and lead singer Hayley Williams is teaming up with Weezer on a Muppets tribute CD. Jack White’s Third Man imprint is promoting a single by Stephen Colbert (!). Jeff the Brotherhood has scored a Warners deal. Kings of Leon, Ben Folds and The Black Keys continue to be beacons of excellence.
In this pop-rock DisClaimer roundup, the aforementioned Hot Chelle Rae wins our Disc of the Day prize. I’m a little late getting to him, since his album dropped early this year, but Sharif Iman is most assuredly the DisCovery Award winner in this stack of platters.
JONELL MOSSER /When He Gets Home
Writer: Tom Britt/Jonell Mosser; Producer: Kevin McKendree, Tom Britt, Jonell Mosser & The Nico Teen Idols; Publisher: Slugfish/Brothers Mothers, no performance rights listed; City Hall (track) (www.cityhallrecords.com)
—Widely regarded as one of the 10 best female singers in Music City, regardless of genre, this blue-eyed soul diva co-wrote most of her new Fortunes Lost, Fortunes Told album with Nashville rock guitarist and co-producer Tom Britt. The set kicks off with this backbeat romper that marries New Orleans with new-wave soul. Elsewhere, she covers Taj Mahal’s “Giant Step,” Nick Lowe’s “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day,” and Craig Fuller’s “Fool for You.” This vet still sounds great.
WILL HOGE/When I Get My Wings
Writer: none listed; Producer: Will Hoge; Publisher: none listed; Ryko (track)
—This guy is a true Music City treasure. We nearly lost him four years ago when a truck crashed into his scooter, crushing his lungs and breaking multiple bones. His superb 2007 CD Draw the Curtains contained the thrillingly soulful “Washed By the Water.” He performed it, unforgettably, as the finale song of the Ryman telethon to benefit the victims of the May 2010 Nashville flood. This fitting successor is the lead single to his forthcoming, fall-release, seventh solo album titled Number Seven. Complete with blasting horns, it’s a simmering, stately Memphis/Stax slow-burn religious revival. Awesome.
HOT CHELLE RAE/Tonight Tonight
Writer: R.K. Follese/N. Overstreet/E. Kiriakou/E. Kidd Bogart/L. Robbins; Producer: Emanuel Kiriakou; Publisher: Midas/Sleep When I’m Rich/Scarlet Moon/Nash O/Roditis/Here’s Lookin’ at You Kidd/Beluga Heights/Sony-AATV/Hey Kiddo/Kobalt, BMI/ASCAP; Jive (track)
—Chord Overstreet is gone from from the cast of Glee, but brother Nash Overstreet has a big, fat pop hit with his band Hot Chelle Rae. Both are the sons of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Paul Overstreet. In addition to Nash, HCR also contains Jamie and R.K. Follese, the sons of country hit writer Keith Follese, plus Ian Keaggy, the son of Christian-music guitar wonder and multiple Dove awardee Phil Keaggy. “Tonight Tonight” has entered the pop top-10 with its cheerfully bright choruses, spoken passages and thumping party beats. It is the centerpiece of the group’s EP featuring three videos and four equally catchy audio tracks. Irresistible.
JIOSA/On The Edge
Writer: Denny Jiosa/John Toomey/Jon Von Boehm; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Jazzdaddy, SESAC; Sonic Canvas (track) (www.jiosa.com)
—Veteran Nashville guitarist Denny Jiosa now has a trio containing bassist Jon Von Boehm and drummer John Toomey. The title tune to the group’s new album is a rocking affair with improvised metallic axe screaming and steady rhythm undertow. Fling your hair around to this one. Also check out the groovy, echoey instrumental cover of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD/Bummer
Writer: Jake Orrall/Jamin Orrall; Producer: Jeff the Brotherhood; Publisher: Infinity Cat, ASCAP; Infinity Cat (track) (www.infinitycat.com)
—Brothers Jamin and Jake Orrall are beloved graduates of Be Your Own Pet. Their second CD as Jeff the Brotherhood seems to address their reputation as being better live than on disc, for it is quite the production. Audaciously titled We Are the Champions, the stoner-punk collection is full of wit as well as bashing and crashing. This single gets under your skin with its deep, dark instrumental bed and droning vocal. The boys’ father is Robert Ellis Orrall, of “Al Gore” notoriety, and the only Nashville songwriter to have written for both Shenandoah and Lindsay Lohan, not to mention “Look it Up” for Ashton Shepherd. By the way, this is the last chance you’ll have to buy Jeff as an indie (on vinyl, if you wish), because Warners is about to give Infinity Cat a shot at world domination.
ROYAL TAILOR/Hold Me Together
Writer: none listed; Producer: Chuck Butler; Publisher: none listed; Provident (track) (www.royaltailoronline.com)
—This bi-racial foursome is scaling the Christian charts with this track from its debut album Black & White. The plaintive tenor lead vocal arches skyward with shadowing backup singing and gently electrified, spacey instrumental work. The lyric could be romantic or religious, depending on the listener, so I sense definite pop-crossover potential.
BILLY FALCON/When
Writer: Billy Falcon; Producer: Billy Falcon & Nick Pellegrino; Publisher: none listed, BMI; BF (track) (www.billyfalcon.com)
—Billy moved to Music City some 20 years ago following the loss of his wife to breast cancer. He raised daughter Rose on his own in Nashville, and she is now a pop record maker, herself. The two spent a good part of this year on the road opening for Bon Jovi, and Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora are his co-writers on the album track “When We Were Beautiful.” “When,” the CD’s title tune, addresses Billy’s grief. It is a starkly arranged ballad with his cracked delivery fronting a sighing string section. The moving lyric wishes mom could only see her daughter now, as a blossoming adult. Essential listening that is loaded with soul.
BURLAP TO CASHMERE/Build A Wall
Writer: Steven Delopoulos; Producer: Mitchell Froom; Publisher: SD Songs, SESAC; Jive/Essential (track) (www.burlaptocashmere.com)
—Although based in Brooklyn, this five-man folk-rock band is marketed out of Music City. Its hair-raising back story involves guitarist John Philippidis being nearly beaten to death by two now-imprisoned male assailants because of a road-rage incident in 2005. His cousin, Steve Delopoulos, is the band’s songwriter and lead singer. The group’s long comeback has led to a self-titled CD that includes this very cool, crunchy, compelling thumper. Burlap to Cashmere deserves to stand alongside Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers and other stellar practitioners of heart-pumping alternative, acoustic pop.
MATTHEW WEST/Strong Enough
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Sparrow (track)
—In addition to being an award-winning CCM artist, West writes songs for folks like Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Point of Grace, Mallary Hope (”Love Lives On”) and Diamond Rio (”This Is My Life”). His current hit has a shuddering, hard-rock track that contrasts somewhat disturbingly with his light, tenor vocal delivery. Pass.
SHARIF IMAN/Shine
Writer: Sharif Iman; Producer: Dave Wilson; Publisher: Fox/Chocolate Soul Child, SESAC; Foxy/CSC (track) (www.sharifiman.com)
—This Nashville singer-songwriter was so determined to make it in music that he endured periods of homelessness. The handsome, self-proclaimed “Chocolate Soul Child” has made solid strides forward with his indie single, which is also the title tune to his CD. It is a shimmering, soaring outing that showcases his impressive vocal range and inspirational songwriting. I believe in this guy.