With her desire to be out front of the fans once again, Sherrie went to work to record some new music and the results of that labor is this, her first independently released (on her own label) album Circus Girl. The title track has an energizing melody that just screams to be played over and over. Written with Charity Daw and Will Rambeaux, the song’s lyrics tell a story of a “lost boy” and “circus girl,” two people with personalities that are too big for their hometown and how they live in a different ‘world’ than most people. The words are really a metaphor for living your own life to your own beat of your drum and not living for other people. “I Didn’t” is a fun little song that finds Sherrie singing about a guy who think’s he’s the ‘cat’s pajamas’ in a relationship; “Yeah, what tore our love apart was a matter of religion, he really loved himself a lot, he thought he was god and I didn’t.” “If I Was A Man” finds Sherrie singing what she would do if she was a man, IE how she would treat herself, unlike the way her boyfriend treats her and there’s a playful line how the guy she’s looking for ends up being a guy who isn’t available to her for any kind of romantic relationship because he’s actually interested in other guys.
“Just Want To Love You Tonight” finds Sherrie singing about a theme that’s recently been explored quite a bit in country music, the “ I don’t wanna love you forever, I just wanna love you tonight” theme. It may be well-worn territory but Sherrie’s song feels ready to join “Lookin’ For A Good Time” and “Tomorrow” in the pantheon of radio hits with the theme. “Bad For Me,” finds Sherrie tackling another theme that is familiar but once again she tackles the “Why does everything that feels so dang good bad for me?” theme, which includes loving an unfaithful man, with classy lyrics that rise above typical fare and the song ends up standing out quite a bit.
“He’s All Yours” has an inviting melody with an attitude-filled lyric (and vocal delivery) that recalls Miranda Lambert mixed with a little of Kelly Clarkson and Pam Tillis for good measure. “Friday Night Girls” tells of a girls night out and it’s all about having a goodtime amongst friends. “That Kind of Happy” was one of my favorite singles of the past few years when Emily West recorded the song Sherrie wrote with Mallary Hope and Will Rambeaux and while Sherrie doesn’t quite have the voice that Emily has (who does?), she’s still quite talented in her own right – with more range than I remember in the past - and she showcases all the attitude that is required in a song like this. It’s a strong, unique song that definitely should’ve been a big hit before and maybe Sherrie will be lucky enough for that to happen.
The very strong Circus Girl album ends on a fun, playful note with the duet “Naughty or Nice.” Written with singer/songwriter Shane Stevens, Will Rambeaux and Canadian artist Steven Lee Olsen, “Naughty or Nice” features Sherrie’s best friend Shane Stevens and it’s a holiday yuletide treat of playfulness much in the same arena as “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Sherrie appears with Shane on the latest season of Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys on the Sundance Channel. It’s a show about women and their gay best friends and is set in Nashville this year.
As an album, Circus Girl is a well-made, strongly-written collection of songs that help to prove that Sherrie Austin remains one of the best female vocalists and one of the better artists of any gender in country music.
Buy: Amazon | Amazon CD | iTunes
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