Tag Archives: Whitney Duncan
EP Review: Post Monroe – 'Post Monroe'
Leave a comment Posted by Occasional Hope on May 30, 2016
The latest female trio in country music, Post Monroe consists of two one-time Nashville Star contestants, Whitney Duncan (who had a short deal with Warner Brothers and a hit duet with Kenny Rogers) and Ashlee Hewitt (married to Jesse Keith Whitley, son of Lorrie Morgan and Keith Whitley), who have teamed up with Shelby McLeod. Their new EP, produced by Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood and Chuck Ainlay (who worked on the Pistol Annies projects). The sound is pop country, but with more country than pop.
The single 'Red Hot American Summer' has a nice banjo lead-in but a rather cliche'd lyric about rural partying which sounds as though it was written for radio. All three girls wrote this with Blair Daly. The three were joined by Dave Haywood and Dave Thompson to write 'Dixie Dust', which looks back nostalgically at a small town Southern upbringing and is pretty good.
The other songs are all Whitney Duncan co-writes. The best song by far (unfortunately marred by some clashing percussion) is 'Lucky One', which she wrote with Kelly Collins. This reflects on a bullet missed as the protagonist is not jealous her toxic ex has a new love, but deeply grateful:
She's thinking she stole my man
But I'm the lucky one
Maybe I should buy her a shot
Yeah I owe that girl a lot
For being everything I'm not
Cause I'm the lucky one
No more crying
No more of your lying
Now I am stronger for the things you put me through…
My toughest lesson was you
You burned me like 80 proof
But I came out shining like new
'Hell On Me', is a ballad Whitney wrote with Chris Tompkins. The production is a bit jarring on the chorus, but it is pretty good with a melancholy undertow as the narrator falls for a new guy while knowing it is going to end badly.
'Half Hearted' is quite a nice song demanding commitment from a lover, but one which ironically lacks real emotional conviction in its delivery. Whitney wrote this one with bandmate Ashlee Hewitt, and with Greg Decker.
I quite enjoyed this release, although I would have preferred a slightly more stripped down production. But it's a pretty fair step in the right direction.
Album Reviews	Ashlee Hewitt, Blair Daly, Chris Tompkins, Chuck Ainlay, Dave Haywood, Dave Thompson, Greg Decker, Jesse Keith Whitley, Keith Whitley, Kelly Collins, Lorrie Morgan, Pistol Annies, Post Monroe, Shelby McLeod, Whitney Duncan
Album Review: Edens Edge – 'Edens Edge'
5 Comments Posted by Occasional Hope on July 5, 2012
New Big Machine trio Edens Edge is built around the distinctive piercing twangy lead vocals of Hannah Blaylock. The production, helmed by Mark Bright and Dann Huff, is unfortunately cluttered with too much going on most of the time. The talented band members play a variety of instruments (Cherrill Green comes from a bluegrass background, and plays mandolin and banjo, while Dean Berners plays dobro and guitar), and a more natural, less processed, sound woul allow them to shine more.
The band's debut single 'Amen' (a top 20 hit last year) is a pretty good song gloating over the departure of a romantic rival, and is one of the few tracks to successfully balance country radio's demands of a glossy finish with an attractive organic yet contemporary country feel. It is one of three songs here co-written by Hannah, this one with Skip Black, Catt Gravitt and Gerald O'Brien. Danny Myrick teamed up with Blaylock and Gravitt for 'Last Supper', a rather intense pop country ballad about an impending breakup. It's heavily over-produced, but is a good song underneath, with some interesting lyrical choices. I quite liked the quirky 'Who Am I Drinking Tonight', which was written by Hannah with Laura Veltz, comparing the guys she meets and their choice of drinks to country stars, but I would have preferred a significantly scaled-back production
'Skinny Dippin' (not the Whitney Duncan song but a new one written by Veltz, band member Dean Berners, and Vince Melamed) is a self-conscious attempt at playful charm which more or less comes off. Remniscent of the Pistol Annies, the first half of the song is quite catchy with a bright acoustic arrangement, but Huff and Bright can't resist the temptation of throwing in weird processing on the backing vocals and too much sound in general, and it all derails. This trio also contributed 'Cherry Pie', a very cluttered sounding number looking back at a happy childhood, which would be a lot better with half the amount of instrumentation or less. Cherry Pie, incidentally, is the name of Hannah's real life childhood pony. As it is largely unlistenable after the low-key and pretty first verse and the sweet lyrics and genuine emotion are crushed by an unnecessary wall of sound.
Veltz wrote the album's best track, the pain-filled 'Liar', with Andy Stochansky. The narrator is hiding her pain as the man she loves, and who thinks of her as just a friend, is set to marry another girl. She pretends to be happy for him, but admits in the song she is "the biggest liar in the world". Production here is for once restrained enough to let the song breathe. The narrator's heartbreak is very convincingly conveyed by Blaylock's vulnerable vocal, with the unfortunate girl even having to help choose and try on the engagement ring.
A close second is 'Swingin' Door' (written by Terry Clayton, Brett James and underrated singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe), which was cut by the Australian Catherine Britt on her outstanding RCA album a few years back. Hannah's version sounds a little less fragile, as she invests a lot of determination rejecting the lover trying to use her. It's an excellent song, and a thoroughly enjoyable track.
'Too Good To Be True', written by pop-country stalwarts Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson and Troy Verges, sounds just like a Carrie Underwood track, with belted-out, almost shouted, vocals, frequent nonsensical syllables, lots of attitude but not much melody, and no subtlety. Naturally it's the current single. 'Feels So Real', another Lindsey song (written with Angelo and Tia Sillers), is more interesting, but very poppy sounding and oversung.
The acappella 'For Christ Alone' (written by the band's mentor Steve Smith, who brought them together in their home state of Arkansas) is one of the few occasions where the vocals of Hannah Blaylock's bandmates Dean Berner and Cherrill Green are really distinct as they don't have to fight against the overwhelming backing, and although it sounds like a hymn with choral styled harmonies rather than a country song, it really shows how ill-served the group has been by their producers.
Edens Edge is a group with a lot of potential, but they have compromised too much to fit into country radio for this album to fulfil it for me.
Album Reviews	Andy Stochansky, Angelo, Ashley Monroe, Brett James, Carrie Underwood, Catherine Britt, Catt Gravitt, Cherrill Green, Dann Huff, Danny Myrick, Dean Berners, Eden's Edge, Gerald O'Brien, Gordie Sampson, Hannah Blaylock, Hillary Lindsey, Laura Veltz, Mark Bright, Pistol Annies, Skip Black, Steve Smith, Terry Clayton, Tia Sillers, Troy Verges, Vince Melamed, Whitney Duncan
Album Review – Lee Ann Womack – 'Call Me Crazy'
5 Comments Posted by Jonathan Pappalardo on December 29, 2011
Following the success of There's More Where That Came From, Womack released the single "Finding My Way Back Home" in August 2006. A return to the poppier sounds she favored on I Hope You Dance, the song failed to rekindle her radio career and an album of the same name was shelved.
Her next full-length album Call Me Crazy finally saw the light of day in the fall of 2008. Upon release critics hailed the album as one of the year's best and praised Womack for continuing to explore her roots and show that women don't have to rely on singing feel-good songs all the time. Read more of this post
Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist	Brian Nash, Casey Beathard, Dale Dodson, Daniel Tashian, Dean Dillon, Erin Enderlin, George Strait, Johnny Cash, Keith Urban, Keith Whitley, Lee Ann Womack, Michael T. Post, Natalie Hembly, Shane McAnally, Waylon Payne, Whitney Duncan