The Weekly Album Release Report: August 26, 2014

This week's Weekly Album Release Report focuses on four new releases and for what it lacks in amount, the release list makes up in quality, particularly Brad Paisley’s new album, the debut albums from Brushville and Ty Bates and the latest from Mud Digger king Lenny Cooper.

Brushville - Brushville (BV Records)

Mixing a sound that mixes the best of both Country bands like Alabama and Big & Rich with the best of rockin’ bands like Journey, Brushville brings forth an edgier slice of rockin country music. Working with legendary producer Kyle Lehning, the band delivers 11 sturdy songs, including lead single “Baby’s Got Her Boots On,” “Still Holding On To You,” rockin’ track “Get On Down The Road” and “17 You And Me,” a song which might’ve been been better with a different title.

Lenny Cooper - The Grind (Backroads Records/Average Joes Entertainment)
The rural rapper is back with his third solo album and while Lenny isn’t for everyone, he knows what will excite his audience. The Grind features strong songs like “Back In The Woods,” “Life In The Pines,” the smoking’ “Same Ole Dust,” and “Redneck Country Song.” The latter two feature Sarah Ross and Bucky Covington, respectively. The album also features Colt Ford, Demon Jones, Cap Bailey, Tyler Wood, Young Gunner, Cypress Spring and Bubba Sparxxx. Perhaps better than all the special guests is the fact that Lenny Cooper is really coming into his own as a songwriter and rural rapper.

Ty Bates - Ty Bates EP (Red Light/TB Entertainment)
A strong vocalist and perhaps an even stronger songwriter, Ty Bates is an exciting newcomer on the scene. This five song EP positions the young Georgia native as someone to keep an eye on. Each song on this album (which was produced by Rogers Masson and features Bates’ road band The Anglers) could be a hit if given a shot by radio or label partners but “Runnin’” “Little Did She Know” and “Tongue-Tied” really stand out the most.

Brad Paisley - Moonshine In The Trunk (Arista Nashville)
If there’s one statement to make about Moonshine In The Trunk, it’s that it’s the best album Brad Paisley has released in quite a few years, easily surpassing the mostly experimental Wheelhouse and This Is Country Music (Even if I enjoyed these records too). It also feels like Brad is creatively refreshed with the album (13 of the 14 are written/co-written by Paisley). He co-produced the project with Luke Wooten and while there’s interesting melodic creativity here, the majority of Trunk stays true to what fans have come to expect from Brad Paisley and it’s loaded down with potential hits after lead single “River Bank.” “Perfect Storm,” “Shattered Glass,” “American Flag On The Moon” and “Country Nation” all feel like big hits as does future summer classic “Crushin’ It.”

Brad Paisley - Moonshine In The Trunk ZinePak Edition (Arista Nashville)
We’ve gotta talk about this Walmart-exclusive deluxe edition, 64 page album w/Magazine. Included in the set is a cool magazine with lots of exclusive info on the creation the album, interesting tidbits about Brad’s home studio and ‘man cave,’ and of course a cool special bumper sticker that matches the one on the album cover (which was polished by Pixar Animation’s John Lassiter). It also includes the lyrics.

BONUS CONTEST:
In fact, we love the Brad Paisley's Moonshine In The Trunk project so much, we’ve partnered with Arista Records and Brad to give one winner a cool prize pack (two moonshine mugs, an autographed copy of the CD and a sticker (see below) and another winner will get the AWESOME ZinePak mentioned above. All you have to do to win is to leave a comment on what your favorite Brad Paisley song is (there is no wrong answer).