Recalling the best of classic artists like Conway Twitty and Ronnie Milsap, Marty Heddin has an easy charm to his voice. Blend a little bit of Mark Wills and a dash of Jeff Bates and you have the makings of exactly the kind of artist that country music fans have been yearning for. A modern neo-traditionalist, Marty Heddin is able to blend his rootsy classic vocal style within a modern context throughout the six songs on this, his debut project.
Working with Keith Stegall directing the band and engineers in the studio, Marty has found the perfect partner to showcase his sound and style. The six tracks found on the Marty Heddin EP were written by the likes of Neal Coty, Randy Houser, Rhett Akins, Lance Miller, Casey Wood, Johnny Reid, Phil “Philbilly” O’Donnell and David Adam Byrnes and it’s a nice blend of songwriters and song. There’s nothing here that seems too old school or too new school and that’s precisely why Marty Heddin’s debut is such an attractive project.
“Hammered” has a similar theme to dozens of other songs but when you blend the kind of fiddle, twangy guitars and Marty’s all in vocal and you have a highly-enjoyable song about a guy who is so affected by his girl that there’s nothing that can give him that kind of buzz or high. “A Little Less Lonely,” is a shufflin’ ballad full of stellar steel guitar and a familiar feel to it that just fits like a comfortable pair of jeans. Like “Hammered,” the story isn’t anything new but does it matter when it sounds so good? Like a glass of single malt, “A Little Less Lonely” just tastes right to my ears. Fans of 90s country will likely love “Going Like It’s Going” and “Game Changer,” both which feature similar stories (about love) told in uniquely different ways.
The other two tracks on this record, the closer “Fine By Me” and “Make You Stay” do feel a little less classic sounding but they’re still firmly country songs. “Make You Stay” features Heddin singing the kind of song radio loves to hear and like the song’s writer, Randy Houser, he acquits himself quite nicely. “Fine By Me” does have “percussive loops” a la Luke Bryan but that’s about all that’s “bro’ about it as the entire song fits well within the overall context of the Marty Heddin EP.
The EP is a cohesive six track collection and thanks to Keith Stegall and his new label Dreamlined Entertainment, Heddin is able to stake a claim to be one of the artists to help steer country music back closer to its roots and it completely has me excited to hear where the rest of his full-length debut project will go in the near future.
Buy Here: iTunes (6 songs for only $3.99)
0 Comments