This week we offer quite a variety within this 35 minute long 10 Best Playlist for This first week of the cold month of February. It kicks off with a song with a loop (“Dirt On A Road” from Old Dominion) and closes out with a stunning song from Maggie Rose, her latest single “Looking Back Now.”
1. Old Dominion “Dirt On A Road”:
One of our latest ‘discoveries,’ “Dirt On A Road” may be a bit jarring to some folks at first but if you get past the looped intro and listen with an open mind, you’ll hear an interesting new band with a strong lead vocalist and a unique debut single with a homespun spoken/rap verse mixed with a melodic chorus.
2. Eric Paslay - “She Don’t Love You”:
One of the many highlights from his self-titled debut for EMI Records Nashville, “She Don’t Love You” is a traditional-like story song that has you listening to each and every line of the beautifully performed song. There’s nuance in the Hal Ketchum-like performance and suggests that Eric Paslay is far more than another ‘bro-country’ frat member with songs like this, songs which have killer hooks like “She don’t love you, she’s just lonely.” This, friends, is Country Music.
3. Lindsay Ell - “Trippin’ On Us”
It’s not often we get female guitarists coming around in Country music yet Canadian newcomer Lindsay Ell (who has been fronting bands for virtually all of her life) is such an artist. Sounding like a youthful Sheryl Crow on this tune, the singer/songwriter and guitar player (check out the solo at about 1:40 in) should be able to break out with her debut USA single.
4. Tebey & Emerson Drive - “Wake Me Up”:
Another Canadian artist making a move for USA airplay is doing so via a well-chosen cover of Aviii and Aloe Blacc’s “Wake Me Up”. It’s not easy to make a Electronic Dance Music hit into a cohesive mainstream Country music track but Tebey enlists the talented, award-winning Emerson Drive to do it and they prove how much depth the lyrics of this track have and how much it really does translate into a mainstream Country hit and may even be the best version of the song currently on the market.
5. Thompson Square “Just Feels Good”:
A fun little tune, this ones’ now also the title to the husband and wife duo’s sophomore album. Rumors are that the tune will be their third single from the album and it certainly would fit a summery vibe for radio with a Sublime-like feel to the tune (which was written by Bobby Pinson and The Warren Brothers). It’s fun and brings to mind the breezy beaches and warmth of summer in this cold first week of February.
6. Lady Antebellum - “And The Radio Played”:
Perhaps the best song the band has on their recent Golden Deluxe Edition album release, “And The Radio Played” is a cleverly-written song which mixes in titles to songs from multiple generations to bring nostalgia to the radio dial while also being a thoroughly modern mainstream track. It’s likely this one will be a summer 2014 hit but we’re getting it in front of y’all early.
7. Logan Mize - “Used Up”:
We’ve been grooving to this midwestern singer/songwriter’s song since we first heard it months ago and while it may not be a hit outside of SiriusXM yet, it’s a big hit on our iPod, iTunes and this Spotify playlist. It’s a song about broken love with a sing-a-long quality that just works very well and a lot of that has to do with Logan Mize’s considerable charm and charisma which oozes out of his performance here.
8. Parmalee - “Close Your Eyes”:
Parmalee hit #1 with “Carolina” and is following-up that track with “Close Your Eyes,” a song which is as catchy as “Carolina” and is a song that always felt like an obvious radio hit to our staff from the moment we heard Parmalee perform it.
9. Tyler Farr - “Whiskey In My Water”:
Speaking of obvious radio hits. That’s what “Whiskey In My Water” is. The perfect follow-up to Tyler’s breakout hit “Redneck Crazy,” “Whiskey In My Water” showcases his talent as a vocalist while singing an engaging lyric about how great a woman is for him and how much he loves having her in his life.
10. Maggie Rose - “Looking Back Now”:
Now here’s a refreshing song for this list. A brilliant tale with multiple layers to it, “Looking Back Now” showcases why artists like Maggie Rose belong in Country Music. She’s willing to release a song that could be deemed risky by some based on the subject matter of the song (revenge, murder, etc.) but it also follows a whole human condition of one person’s tale. It’s unique, it’s still uptempo and it’s performed expertly by Maggie Rose and the perfect capper to this week’s 10 track list.
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