DISClaimer: “Peerless” Brandy Clark Earns Disc Of The Day With “Three Kids No Husband”

We have a wide variety of sounds this week.

Our DisCovery Award winner is Tim Elliott, and he’s as country as grits. But we also have Glee star Noah Guthrie, and he brings a folk-pop-Americana vibe to the table, not to mention a Prince song. Sarah Petite has Mexicali horns on her disc. Bubba T’s Honky Tonk Revival has rowdy-party sing-along people.

And then there’s our Disc of the Day winner, the peerless Brandy Clark. She’s the one with the soul-piercing heart song.

NOAH GUTHRIE/I Would Die 4 U
Writer: Prince; Producers: Noah Guthrie/Ian Guthrie; Publishers: none listed; The Holland Group
-This Glee alumnus and native South Carolinian caps his CD The Valley with this striking Prince cover. He slows it way down and adds stately piano chords and a string section. His aching tenor brings out the latent tenderness in the song’s lyric. Impressive.

SARAH PETITE/Getting Over You
Writer: Sarah Petite; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Sweet P, BMI; SP (track)
– This single from Petite’s fifth CD, Road Less Traveled, showcases her Tammy-esque vocal phrasing against a backdrop of Mexicali horns, sighing steel and hearty male backup harmony voices. I like her conversational musical manner a lot. Recommended.

RANDALL LEE RICHARDS/A Paradise Life
Writers: Randall Lee Richards; Producer: Stacy Hogan; Publisher: none listed; BMI; Ocean’s Ten (CDX)
– I like the hard-luck, blue-collar lyric and the driving, anthemic mood. I just wish he was a stronger singer.

BRANDY CLARK/Three Kids No Husband
Writers: Brandy Clark/Lori McKenna; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publishers: House of Sea Gayle/Highway 508/Songs of Universal/Hoodie, ASCAP; Warner Bros.
– This has become an emphasis track from Brandy’s Big Day in a Small Town album due to the overwhelming fan response it has been getting. It has been said that country music is “three chords and the truth.” Well, no one sings the truth like this woman does. With perfectly chosen words and profound empathy, she and co-writer Lori McKenna have written a mini art film about a reality faced by millions of American women. Listen to this with no distractions. It will touch your soul.

TIM McDONALD/Dad
Writers: Tim McDonald; Grant Austin Taylor; Producers: Tim McDonald/Paul Franklin; Publishers: none listed; ASCAP; Ranch King (CDX)
-He is more than a little pitch challenged.

McKENNA FAITH/Poison
Writers: McKenna Faith/Brittany Lane/Evan Gibb/Ethan Brewington; Producer: Caleb Sherman; Publishers: none listed; BMI/ASCAP; Treble (CDX)
– Four writers and none of you could come up with a melody?

BUBBA T’S HONKY TONK REVIVAL/Drink All Day
Writers: Brandon Kinney/Ben Daniel/Wynn Varble; Producer: Keith Gattis; Publishers: none listed; Amerimonte (CDX)
– The band’s name and the song title tell you just about everything you need to know about this tropical-redneck NASCAR outing.

GREG HUDIK/Mama’s Love
Writers: Greg Hudik; Producer: Greg Hudik; Publishers: none listed; BMI; Platinum (CDX)
– An audio trainwreck.

TIM ELLIOTT/Start Pourin’ Whiskey On It
Writers: John Wiggins/Randy Houser; Producer: Kent Wells; Publishers: none listed, BMI; BRE (CDX)
-He’s a solid honky-tonk singer. The song is a country, country, country winner about chasin’ away yer blues at the end of a hard work week. The production rocks. I’m in.