People think that you need thousands to hundreds of thousands of artists to record a quality album. Well, as if to prove that the theory is absolutely false, 15 year old singer/songwriter Jordyn Shellhart has not only recorded a couple of tracks this way but the artist has, along with some help in Nashville, recorded a complete 15 track acoustic album titled In A Room. The album was literally recorded in a room, this case her manager’s office where she recorded the album with Nick Culbertson on all instruments beside percussion, percussionist Blake Lindley and Lex Lipsitz (who produced the recording). Jordyn herself played the piano on the tracks in addition to recording the overdubbed background vocals. So, while professionals did in fact help Jordyn out, she and her management team of Lipsitz and Rick Barker were adamant about using equipment anyone could go to a Guitar Center or Best Buy and purchase. In fact, Jordyn Shellhart has exclusively released this album at Best Buy locations nationwide and has partnered with Best Buy’s @15 campaign, a place where teenagers can network together safely. The In A Room album also will have a portion of the proceeds donated to the @15 campaign and the album is a part of the @15 Gift for the holidays.
Now when you hear 15 year old singer/songwriter, the comparison to Taylor Swift will be quickly made. While both young artists have a confessional songwriting style, Shellhart’s voice is stronger and at points it recalls both Martina McBride and a co-writer of Shellhart’s, Carolyn Dawn Johnson with a bit of Colbie Calliat thrown in for good measure. In A Room starts off with a Swift-like song called “You Don’t Get to Get Me” and while the lyrics are obviously about a romance that’s ended, the song may be the only one on the album that actually feels like it’s a “Taylor Swift” song. Gravity is a song that Jordyn wrote with her best friend Maggie Trabucco and it is a song that is about a person who wants to shed the things that are ‘keeping her down’ and from ‘reaching her dreams.’ The production, which is heavy on acoustic bass and mandolins, shows Shellhart to be one talented girl and the talent continues on the rest of the record, particularly on the sweet Carolyn Dawn Johnson co-write “Infinite X’s and O’s.”
Melodic and just damn good, “I’m Breaking Up” feels like the perfect song to be released to country radio. It reminds me of something that might have been on a Judds record back in the day melodically while also just being a playful little tune. It’s the kind of song that gets the toes tappin and people clappin’, in other words, a perfect first single. The organic acoustic arrangement suits the song as well and hopefully when Sony Nashville releases a single in 2010, they will keep this one in mind, while also keeping most of what makes it work, the acoustic nature and Shellhart’s charming delivery intact. “I Don’t Have To Work At All” finds Jordyn singing about a great first love, the kind that lets a girl know that she’s really in love for the first time. One of the most personal songs on In A Room is “I’ve Been There Too,” a song written by Jordyn and Carolyn Dawn Johnson about the loss of both of their brothers. Jordyn’s died two years ago at age 21 of complications from undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes.
Everything about In A Room shines with Jodryn Shellhart’s charisma and talent. While there have been quite a few young girls toiling around Nashville as of late, there have been few who can match the sheer desire and work ethic it takes to succeed and miss Shellheart is one of them and if anybody else is going to successfully follow in Taylor Swift’s footsteps as the voice of tween and teen girls all over the country, it will likely be Jordyn Shellhart. Remember the name for 2010 is likely to be the year where the world first learns of her. Also, it is a damn fine example of how a few talented people can go about making a record without spending thousands and thousands of dollars to do so.
For more information on Jordyn Shellhart, you can go to her website (click here).
For more information about Best Buy's @15 teen social campaign click here.
To purchase your own copy of this album click here.
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