Brendan is certainly a prolific artist. He is also one who never stops learning. He constantly looks for opportunities to hone his craft and it shows in his music as it continues to evolve.
A lot of the songs from the album have already been released as singles. The public already know a bit of what to expect.
A few songs were nominated for and one won – I hear your voice – Purple air guitars last year.
Brendan mixes up his styles, within the country music genre. It all sounds country, it is all just different.
There’s something to please everyone here. All of Brendan’s songs work on different levels. There’s a rich vein of history and a plethora of observations in introspective and subtle ways as well as more obvious ones.
It is not always autobiographical but the stories are real – either through observation or how relative they are to their audience.
Brendan is first and foremost, a storyteller. He has a powerful voice and a healthy amount of recordings under his belt.
Brendan has some special musicians on this album. It is well produced and well balanced. It has a mix of high energy songs and slow, thoughtful ones anothers that fit comfortably in between.
Brendan’s musical career is steady and consistent. He is ever present at festivals and in workshops. This could be the album to push the envelope just that little bit further. Then you’ll have to go and find his other albums.
Risk It All (Jayne Denham, Brian White, Phil Barton)
Lovin’ A Wild Thing (Brian White, Jason Sever, Ben Glover, Chad Brownlee)
Face Of The Sun (Brian White, Megan Conner, Pete Stewart)
Moonshine Money (Matt Scullion, Jayne Denham, Ross Flora)
She’s more Joan Jett than Reba McEntire. She’s a hard hitting, power singer and a little wild and there’s nothing wrong with that and then she shows a more vulnerable side.
I’ve never tasted moonshine but I have seen enough westerns and heard enough country songs to make me drunk on it – several times over.
Jayne Denham is our version of a female country music outlaw. She’s a no nonsense, high octane, whirling dervish.
If you are looking to relax on the couch and chill, this is probably not the album for you. If you want to break out your air guitar and bust your invisible strings. You can practice your dance moves and set fire to the dance floor or the Lino, whatever rocks your boat or er your truck.
Brian White produced the album which even features a George Strait cover, Poison, which is one of the best songs on the album.
The songwriters on the album are pretty much household names.
I am pretty much a music for mood person. There are times when I want to rock it out and that’s when I turn to artists like Jayne. She ironically lives in Tamworth now.
The great thing about country music is that it is so diverse and even the toughest critics of the genre are starting to realise that.
Jayne has spent as much time overseas as she has here in Australia. In many places, she is better known than in her own country.
She’s fresh, original and not your average country chick.
And after all, there’s nothing wrong with lovin’ a wild thing.
Toyota Starmaker Winner, Wade Forster starts us off with Off the Drugs. It’s a beauty. Great sound.
Corey Legge – I’m coming back country rocks it. Corey likes to mix it up and it is always quality. He’s here for the long haul.
Gene Bradley Fix – Blackhawk
From one of our young fellas to a veteran. Gene is the Jack Palance of Aussie country music (thankfully, he’s still with us!) He’s a crusty old cowboy with a great spirit and passion for what he does. This is a treasure.
Adrienne – Rex Dallas
Talking about old cowboys, somehow, I missed this one. Rex Dallas or King Rex as I like to call him sings a song about his dear wife. Very touching.
Jax Tonic – My Radio
A catchy country rock song which will get your toes tapping. There’s enough twang to hook you. Good stuff.
Nashville, Tennessee Tracklist: 1. “I Went To College / I Went To Jail (feat. Jelly Roll)” (Ernest Keith Smith, Chandler Paul Walters, Rivers Rutherford, Luke Bryan) 2. “Ain’t As Easy” (Ernest Keith Smith, Dean Dillon, Jessie Jo Dillon, Chandler Paul Walters) 3. “Why Dallas (feat. Lukas Nelson)” (Ernest Keith Smith, Chandler Paul Walters, Grady Block, Jordan Merrigan, Lukas Nelson) 4. “One More Heartache” (Ernest Keith Smith, Chandler Paul Walters, Jessie Jo Dillon, Dean Dillon) 5. “Hangin’ On (feat. Morgan Wallen)” (Ernest Keith Smith, Grady Block, Rhys Rutherford, Jacob Durrett, Rafe Tenpenny) 6. “Did It For The Story” (Ernest Keith Smith, John Byron, Ryan Vojtesak, Blake Pendergrass) 7. “How’d We Get Here” (Ernest Keith Smith) 8. “Never Said I Love You” (Ernest Keith Smith, Chandler Paul Walters) 9. “Would If I Could (feat. Lainey Wilson)” (Dean Dillon, Donald Ewing II) 10. “Honkytonk Fairytale” (Ernest Keith Smith, Rafe Tenpenny, Dallas Wilson, Brad Clawson) 11. “Smokin’ Gun” (Ernest Keith Smith, Rhys Rutherford, Grady Block, Ryan Vojtesak, Blake Pendergrass) 12. “Twinkle Twinkle (Live At Fenway Park) [feat. Ryman Saint]” (Jane Taylor) 13. “Life Goes On” (Ernest Keith Smith, Ashley Gorley, Ryan Vojtesak) 14. “If You Don’t Know By Now” (Clint Daniels, Dale Dodson) 15. “You Don’t Have To Die” (Clint Ingersoll, Chris Stapleton) 16. “Redneck Sh*ttt” (Ernest Keith Smith, Mark Holman, Nicolle Galyon) 17. “Small Town Goes” (Ernest Keith Smith, Grady Block, Cody Lohden, Ryan Vojtesak, Chandler Paul Walters) 18. “Kiss Of Death” (Ernest Keith Smith, Andy Albert, Ryan Vojtesak) 19. “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” (John Clayton Mayer) 20. “Ain’t Too Late” (Ernest Keith Smith, Grady Block, Chandler Paul Walters, Jordan Merrigan, Cody Lohden) 21. “Sayin’ You Love Me” (Ernest Keith Smith, Mark Holman, James McNair) 22. “Summertime Flies” (Ernest Keith Smith, Rafe Tenpenny, Grady Block, Jacob Durrett, Ross Portaro) 23. “Ain’t Right Ain’t Wrong” (Ernest Keith Smith, Rhys Rutherford, Ryan Vojtesak) 24. “Creep (feat. Hardy)” (Colin Greenwood, Jonathan Greenwood, Albert Hammond, Michael Hazlewood, Edward O’Brien, Philip Selway, Thomas Yorke) 25. “Bars On My Heart” (Ernest Keith Smith, Mark Holman, Nicolle Galyon) 26. “Dollar To Cash” (Ernest Keith Smith, Grady Block, Rafe Tenpenny, Brett Tyler)
This is a marathon effort by Ernest. He is one of my favourite international artists of the last few years but reviewing an album with 26 songs is also a marathon effort.
It has to be really good for me to review an album that big. Trust me, it is.
Ernest was a rap artist. That seems a lifetime ago. He is more traditional country than a lot of country music artists are these days. In fact, as you start up this album, you will think that he is the most authentic country music artist that you would have come across in a long while. The songs are all his, but they have that feel of old country, until they deviate to some more modern cuts which are still country, they are just a bit more up tempo and edgy.
With 26 tracks, you can skip and rewind and fast forward and rethink. The first four tracks will lull the diehard trad fans into a false sense of security but also make them see heaven for a while. The change of pace may unnerve them for the next two tracks but then Ernest gets back to the real good stuff with How’d we get here and all will be forgiven.
Ernest is clever. He tries to please a wide audience and himself. He makes you navigate this album with all of its twists and turns so that you can find the songs that are your choices and skip the ones that your neighbour prefers to listen to.
While I can listen to the more modern cuts ( though I’d rather not listen to Morgan Wallen) – the trad stuff is where he shines.
There are some songs on this album that could be modern classics.
He is brave singing with Hardy, Jelly Roll and his young son, Ryman. He is smart singing with Lainey Wilson. Their song, Would if I could is a highlight. They are a bit Tim and Faith on this one – which is always a good thing, though Lainey sings more like Reba and that is always a good thing too.
It is hard to say my favourites because out of the 26, 23 are my favourites.
I think a lot of good old boys have trouble accepting Ernest because of the artist that he once was and they think of him of some kind of pretender/actor singing these wonderful songs.
That’s a shame. The Nashville native must be an extremely great actor, then, because he had me convinced from the first song that I ever heard him play.
There is so much heart and love in these songs, and joy. Ernest is clever with his words, his tunes and his choices in collaborators.
At his best on this album, Ernest can whoop any old cowpoke’s saddle filler.
Ernest and Hardy do a very country version of Creep, which is interesting as a fair few years ago, Australia’s country music fabulous singer, Gina Jeffreys did a version of the song for a segment on a local radio show and people loved it. This is a cool version too.
I’d be naming almost every song if I started describing the songs and it would end up like War and Peace.
It is worth every minute of 1 hour and 29 minutes of music to listen to every song then go back and listen to the good stuff and the great stuff.
One reviewer likens the album to a political campaign. He also says that it ends in victory.
Ernest is always going to have naysayers because he is always going to have folks out there who look to where he started out rather than to where he is now.
That’s their loss. When I stumbled across Ernest a few years ago, it was like striking Gold.
This is probably the most real country album that you are going to find (of mainly original material) this year.
There are a couple of bumps but you can give those to the kids. Enjoy.
Six singles have been released from Kelley’s album. I was never a fan of Florida Georgia Line, the band that Brian was a member of. This album, however, shows some promise.
It is hit and miss though. It is what I would call a try hard album. A lot of it name drops legends of country music, brands of certain alcohol products and other country music related items.
It is like he has tried to fit every country music cliche into one album. There is nothing new here, but his singing is fine and it is a huge effort.
Most of the reviews that I have read feel the same way. Some have been very scathing and I don’t think that it deserves that treatment.
It is far from perfect but there is enough to suggest that the man has talent and that he just needs to cut the cliches and drop the brand names and concentrate on less stereotypical material. His voice is a bit like Ronnie Dunn’s.
With the right writers and some direction and guidance, Brian could be so much better.
When I went to review the album, I honestly didn’t know that he was from FGL. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have reviewed it. I listened to a couple of tracks and I thought, they sound good and they sound country.
The album as a whole doesn’t work for me but it has its moments.
It is 39 minutes. It is worth a listen for at least 15 minutes and the hope that it will get better.
Cowgirlup 