CD Review: Cam – Untamed – byAlexander Schulz-Luckenbach for Country Music News International
1. Untamed
2. Hungover On Heartache
3rd Mayday
4. Burning House
5. Cold in California
6. My mistake
7. Runaway train
8. Half Broke Heart
9. Want It All
10. Country Ain’t Never. Been Pretty
11. Village
We know Cam as a
technical abbreviation for Camera, in words like webcam or camcorder. Cam is
also the name of a young, talented American country singer, whose full name
Cameron Marvel Ochs seemed too bulky for a music career.
Born near San Francisco, she spent a lot of
time at her grandparents’ ranch as a child, which could explain her early
enthusiasm for country music. She was involved in various choirs and learned
to play the guitar, but studied for a career in psychology. In the end, the love of music led won out
over psychology and Cam released her debut album “Heartforward” in
2010 under her real name Cameron Ochs. The songs on the album were influenced
by the singer’s trip to Nepal.
After moving to Los Angeles, it started to
go uphill with her musician and songwriter career: For example, her song
“Maybe You´re Right” appeared on an album by Miley Cyrus in 2013.
After another move to Nashville, she
started a campaign to record a new album with the well-known producer Jeff
Bhasker and she was signed to Sony Music subsidiary “Arista
Nashville” in 2014.
The final breakthrough came in June 2015
with the single “Burning House”, which became the
“highest-selling female country song of 2015”.
The present album “Untamed” was released on
December 11th, 2015 with 11 songs, each of which Cam wrote. It became the
best-selling debut Country Studio album of the year.
There is a mixture of up-tempo songs such
as “My Mistake”, “Runaway Train” or “Want It All”,
to rather quiet titles like “Hungover On Heartache”. The ballads carried by the acoustic guitar,
such as “Burning House” or “Village” leave the strongest
impression.
As Cam tells, all the pieces on the album
have an autobiographical background. “Burning
House” is about a dream in which she sees her ex-boyfriend trapped in a
burning house.
The album, which was produced with a host
of musicians, should propel Cam further up the career ladder.
Her website is https://www.camcountry.com/
See her video of “Burning House” on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyGSe76rAJc&list=PLMgwmRtwsmltnVK65IN1lu6BWcudemZTx&index=1