DISClaimer: Welcome To CRS

Lee Brice

Welcome to Country Radio Seminar. Rolling out the red carpet for our broadcasting visitors this week are a Country Music Hall of Fame member, one of Nashville’s hottest vocal trios, a hearty male up-and-comer and a band that’s just beginning to make waves. They are, in order, Don Williams, The Band Perry, Lee Brice and Parmalee. It gives me great pleasure to declare that a really great guy, Lee Brice, earns this week’s Disc of the Day prize.

The DisCovery Award goes to Lexi Larsen. I know very little about her, except for the facts that she is a native Nebraskan who is now a Nashville singer-songwriter. I do know this: The lady can sing.

LEXI LARSEN/You Can Leave
Writers: Lexi Larsen/Felicia Fay King/Karin Paparelli; Producer: Stephen Leiweke; Publisher: Fell Off The Truck/Lexi Larsen/Music Envy; SESAC/ASCAP/BMI; O.W.C. (CDX)
-Very promising. Loaded with vocal dynamics. She sings the verses in a husky, expressive alto, then belts out the choruses in a confident, shiny soprano. This woman certainly knows her way around a song.

NORTH 40/Tell Me Somethin’ Good
Writers: Paige/Logan/Heather Looney; Producer: Leigh Reynolds/Mills Logan; Publisher: Molly Jack; ASCAP; Rhymetown (CDX)
-This female led ensemble bops energetically here, but it seems to take forever to get to the hook.

MELISSA GREENWOOD/Roller Coaster Ride
Writers: Carole Ciaciosco; Producer: Jack Gale/Jim Pierce; Publishers: Royal Palm; ASCAP; Playback (CDX)
-She sings with vim on this tempo tune, and the slightly amateurish delivery only adds to its charm. The steel and lead guitarists match her lick for lick.

PARMALEE/Close Your Eyes
Writers: Adam Craig/Trent Tomlinson/Shane Minor; Publishers: Sony-ATV Tree/Big Spaces/Amplified Administration/BootHeel/Big Mosquito/Code Six Charles, BMI; Stoney Creek
-Spring and summer might seem a long way off. When they finally do get here, these guys have the perfect romance tune for those long, slow, dreamy nights.

DON WILLIAMS/I’ll Be Here In The Morning
Writers: none listed; Producers: none listed; Publishers: none listed; Sugar Hill (track)
-You could warm your hands to the sound of this voice. The Hall of Famer lopes through this ode to fidelity with the gentle ease of a champion cowboy. Utter audio excellence.

CARRIE ANN CARROLL/Honeymoon
Writers: Carrie Ann Carroll; Producer: Joe Carroll; Publisher: carrieanncarrollsongs, BMI; Treehouse (track)
-This Austin gal has a songwriter showcase CD titled You Should Know. It kicks off with this easy-going, rolling tune with a dandy guitar-driven backing track. Her singing voice is rather wispy, pitch-y and bland.

Lexi Larsen

THE BAND PERRY/Chainsaw
Writers: Shane McAnally/Josh Osborne/Matt Ramsey; Producer: Dann Huff; Publishers: Universal/Smack Ink/Want a Fresh One/Black River/Music of RPM/Sonic Geo, ASCAP; Republic Nashville
-Snappy and sassy. She’s out to cut down the tree they once carved their initials on. “It’s hard to bury the hatchet, holdin’ a chainsaw.” Fierce and feisty.

SCOTT CONER/Feels Like Friday
Writers: none listed; Producer: Greg Wright; Publishers: none listed; Reedy’s Dream
-It’s a country-rock thang, with a “live” feeling, a Skynyrd vibe and some soul-band horns and backup singers.

LEE BRICE/I Don’t Dance
Writers: Lee Brice/Rob Hatch/Dallas Davidson; Producer: Lee Brice; Publishers: Mike Curb/Legends of Mustang/Way Down the Hatch/Big Loud Bucks/EMI Blackwood, BMI/SESAC; Curb
-I really like the guy-next-door quality of this man’s performances. This delightfully rhythmic song is about a guy who is so in love that he’ll even dance with her, despite the fact that he can’t. The icing on the cake is a fantastic production with tremendous bass undertow, zippy electro effects and swirling atmosphere. As a singer, as a songwriter and now as a producer, Lee Brice rules.

STEVIE LEE WOODS/Hey What Do I Know
Writers: Patrick McManus/Rich Alves/John Colgen; Producer: Patrick McManus; Publishers: Freshly Brewed/Hard Luck/Bollywood, ASCAP/BMI; Krazy Town (CDX)
-The song is cutely written. His voice is just average, and the production sounds like it is approximately 25 years old.