Thank goodness! Something new from Kenny to replace that gawd-awful rock-star monstrosity. This is more the kind of record that has sustained his career, even though it does have a strong hint of heard-it-before to it. And really, does this have to be four minutes long? It’s a three minute song. People’s attention spans are shorter now than they’ve ever been. I do wish Country singers would wake up to that fact. Few records get any better being sixty seconds longer than they need to be.
As per usual, there are three other tracks on the album I’d prefer to have as radio singles before this one. Not that there’s anything wrong with this record, now. The vocal work is gorgeous, the production slick. The uneventful hook doesn’t stick with me, though.
Unlike the Chesney/McGraw thing, this song with Rock in the title is actually a Country record. Modern Country, no doubt, but it ain’t loud and overbearing. The phrase is used in the generic manner here, applied to mean: cuttin’ loose, having fun, party-down and all that. Good record and a contender.
Songs about small farming come and go, hit and miss. Mostly they miss because the mass of Americans are now at least three generations away from the land. They don’t even remember having relatives that farmed. The ‘farming’ songs that do become big hits are mostly novelties about tractors, skinny-dippin’ and rowdy parties far back in the woods where the law won’t bug you. This one, though, speaks the gods-honest-truth about small farming. The people who do it love it, wouldn’t want to do anything else, but it breaks a body down before it’s time. I’ll be surprised if it charts at all considering that there are now maybe only a dozen or fifteen big-city/big-corp PDs who call all the shots for the stations in the reporting pool, and those guys are increasingly weird, operating in a parallel universe. (Did you see some of them are now up to 70 spins a week on Heavies in service to the PPM?!) Since most of my readers are in small markets and we’ve got a lot of listeners who either still do some small farming or have close relatives who do, this record is a hymn in their honor and I think they’ll appreciate it much coming from us.
I’m still not sure about this. There’s a goodly amount of crossover listening from us to the A/C format and this song has been up to the top of their chart and in A/C Power Recurrent for many weeks now. For P1 listeners, maybe it’s gonna be a brand new song. But in this plugged-in world, that’s a big maybe. For anybody that bounces from us to that Pop station, it may feel like we’re kinda late to the party. Now we got so much other good stuff in the list right now, with a good fresh feeling all over, I’m thinking that it won’t be such a problem. Let’s just hope it’s a record that doesn’t have much burn to it.
Since I got it about three weeks ago, I’ve played it for myself a dozen or more times and put it into rotation on my webstation to hear it in the mix and all my lights get to flashing everytime it comes through the speakers. This is a terrific Woman’s Song. Brilliantly simple and honest. This confessional will ring true for more than half the women in our audience; a big percent of ‘em have been divorced and a big chunk more are just so deep into this kind of rut they got no way to get out. Sad, yes, but that’s the way it is. And they think about that boy they fell for back in their own personal prehistoric days. Again remember: Shannon is not yet signed to a label, she’s in Nashville workin’ a day job and making the rounds. So when a lister calls, tell her she can get the song straight off Shannon’s website.
Yet again, there are songs on the album I’d much prefer as radio singles before this one, but no nevermind there. He’s coming off back-to-back #1 airplay singles and the timing is good for a song like this with it’s happened-in-the-summertime theme setting.
Shows what I know…there are three other songs on the album that turn my crank a whole bunch quicker than this one. I tracked that album quite a bit when it came in and not once did I figure on this being a single cause it’s got that over-wrought, operatic, top of lungs shoutin’ thing in it. Blake’s got so much style goin’ for him, maybe he feels he’s gotta show us all he’s got big gauge pipes, too. I don’t think so, but well, ok. I ‘preciate all he do fer us.
It’s moved into the Top 20 now and my concerns about it sounding exactly like a Lady A knock-off are unfounded. Well, not that it doesn’t, but that it’s of no matter. The record is very fine and I should’a known better than to over-think it.
The record’s breakin’ into a gallop pretty quick outta the chute. But after s’more auditioning, it ain’t makin’ any better impression on me. There is no sing-along hook here and while the energy is appreciated, this ain’t much of a dance tune, either. This’ll probably get into or very near the Top 10, but I doubt we’ll have it in Power Gold two years hence.He’s a talent and I expect we’ll have something stronger off this fine “Home” album before very long. Like, how’s about “Diamonds Make Babies”? That there’s a killer.
