Me (Featuring Willie Nelson)
Busy
City 2:30 I’d Rather Hear I Don’t Love You (Than Nothing at All) 3:50 Only Me
(featuring Willie Nelson) 3:50 I Need
Somebody Bad Tonight 4:10 We Must Have
Been Out of Our Minds (featuring Daryle Singletary) 3:29 It’s Never Too Late 3:37
Teardrops Over You 3:14 Once a Day 2:35Beneath Still Waters 3:30 Bright Lights
and Country Music 3:36 When the Grass
Grows Over Me 4:00 Drivin’ Nails 3:21
The
plucking banjo strums and the mountain’s twang reverb the treetops. The
jug-band leaps from their rocking chairs, the straw flies from their mouths
toward the balcony rails. The fiddle kicks in. Then, they tug at their overall
straps and run ‘cross the dirt state road preparing to join in. The entire time
they have to hold on to their tweed hats so they don’t fall off with all the
hooting and hollering going on. That’s what I imagined anyway as Busy City began playing. But, I’m not
here to guide you through my warped imagination. Rather, I’m here to listen for
musical merit; whether it’s the writing, the singing, the musicians, or the
production.
Tell you the truth. I had no idea
what I was getting myself into when Busy
City began. The lyrics tell of a story that you’d think seemed familiar;
the girls man left and she is upset about it. This song has a twist that seemed
unfamiliar to me. She seems to just wonder why it was done with no real hard
feelings. The incredible musicianship that accompanies it seems to drive that
message. It isn’t that familiar “I hate” or “Girl Power Roar.” Lyrically, it is
much more of a mature reflection. To me, it really shows professionalism that I
rarely see anymore.
I’d
Rather Hear I Don’t Love You (Than Nothing at All) slows the album down. It
opens with almost a weeping fiddle. As she begins to sing you can feel the
words flow through your heart. Maybe, it’s just me. Being a bartender for so
long I never really saw it from the other side. This song brings that other
viewpoint to me that I never considered before. I know there are a lot of guys
as well as girls that this song could mean a great deal to.
Only
Me (featuring Willie Nelson) comes up next. I’m not going to lie, when I
saw that Willie Nelson was on this album. I leapt at the chance to review it.
Who out there could blame me? The banjo kicks up the pace. Dueling banjos at
one point and a fiddle along with some fabulous finger picking bring out this
duet. It’s what you may expect to hear in Mexico, but with English lyrics. I
really don’t know how to look at this objectively because I am a big fan of
Willie, but this has to be the best song I have ever reviewed. All I can say is
you must listen to it and make your own decision.
I
Need Somebody Bad Tonight is next. This is like the Cowboy drowning himself
in a glass of Whiskey, except it’s a cowgirl drowning herself. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
(featuring Daryle Singletary) is another great duet. I believe that Rhonda
Vincent’s strongest songs are these duets over tops of the acoustic strumming
and Mexican guitars. It’s Never Too Late
reminds me a lot of Kenny Rogers “Gambler,” yet with a religious twist. A man
sells his soul then looks for forgiveness from a preacher. Teardrops Over You is another one of those cry in your beer or
drown in your whisky songs. I hope that the bar has flood insurance or has
suicide counselors on hand.
Overall, the musicians were incredible,
lyrically it was good, and her voice perfectly matched it. The duets were
amazing and I believe these were the strongest songs on the album. The album
began in a very different light than when it ended. It almost fell into that “oh
no, my man left me genre,” which it seems a lot of singers fall into. After the
first few of these feeling sorry for myself songs it seemed to get old. I’m
sure that she had songs that were better that were not put on this album just
for sales purposes and audience targeting. I hope in the future she stays away
from falling in these traps.
Jeremy Frost for Country Music News International