29-05-2011, 13:48
modern country
not much of and album with 8 tracks coming in at under 30 minutes
at least Paisley had quantity
only like 1 track, A Buncha Girls
Grade - 1.4
released May 24th
![[Image: p94167w770i.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drp900/p941/p94167w770i.jpg)
from the album - Tell Me You Get Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQk7m2P3AU
from all music
Bio
With a gritty vocal approach, considerable guitar skills, and a natural sense of country-pop dynamics, Frankie Ballard would appear to have an unshakable template for country music stardom. Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, Ballard was singing Elvis Presley songs with his dad (and with fervor) by the time he was five, but he soon fell under the summer spell of baseball and pushed himself to excel as a ball player. He was 18 before he got his first guitar, but thereafter he spent hours playing guitar and music became his other passion. He began playing in blues bands on the weekends, juggling gigs with baseball games until eventually music won out and he dedicated himself to building a career as a performer. Ballard's big break came when he won Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in Michigan in 2008, going on to open for Chesney during the country starâs Michigan tour dates, which in turn led to Ballard being signed to a publishing deal with Sony ATV as well as a recording contract with Reprise Records. He moved to Nashville in the spring of 2009 and began working on a debut album with producer Michael Knox. A first single, âTell Me You Get Lonely,â was released in the spring of 2010, followed by "A Buncha Girls," and his self-titled long-player for Warner Nashville in May of 2011.
Album Review
The self-titled freshman album by Frankie Ballard, the winner of Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in Michigan in 2008, is a scant eight tracks, a little over 27 minutes, and the safest bet Nashville could place on a new artist in an uncertain 21st century music biz. The Michael Knox-produced effort opens with one of its two preceding singles, "A Buncha Girls," co-written by Ballard with Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, and Rhett Atkins. It's also the set's strongest track, as it revs up big midwest guitar rock à la John Mellencamp, tempered by banjos and pedal steel, and extremely crisp snare and kick drums. It's a fist-pumping, good-time anthem. Come to think of it, most of this record is flavored the same way, subsequent tracks "Single Again" and "Place to Lay Your Head" follow suit; and the album's other early single, "Tell Me You Get Lonely," is a midtempo rocker with the same big guitars and a Hammond B-3 for ballast. Up front is Ballard's voice, young, strong, ringing out crystal clear. Here, too, the Mellencamp influence is undeniable in Ballard's phrasing -- and perhaps overwhelming. Knox and the studio band play this up to a near fault, because these songs, decent though they may be, don't reach his influence's level. And while his guitar playing is better than adequate, the sounds are so generic, it's tough to tell his style from the session's other slinger, Adam Shoenfeld. Ballard's debut doesn't have any inherently weak tracks, but it doesn't possess any extraordinarily strong ones, either. It is a slight slice of good-time, contemporary radio, ear candy country. It will work in the clubs, it'll work in the car, and is virtually indistinguishable from what passes for Top 40 in Nash Vegas' rigid format.
Track Listing
1 A Buncha Girls Akins, Ballard, Davidson, Hayslip 3:34
2 Single Again Akins, Wiseman 3:20
3 Place to Lay Your Head Akins, Davidson, Hayslip 3:05
4 Tell Me You Get Lonely Davidson, Dodson 3:08
5 Get On Down the Road Murphy, Rutherford, Wicks 3:15
6 Sober Me Up Davidson, Gorley 3:35
7 Rescue Me Nichols, Singleton 3:43
8 Grandpa's Farm Cobb, Hood, Saenz 3:46
not much of and album with 8 tracks coming in at under 30 minutes
at least Paisley had quantity
only like 1 track, A Buncha Girls
Grade - 1.4
released May 24th
from the album - Tell Me You Get Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQk7m2P3AU
from all music
Bio
With a gritty vocal approach, considerable guitar skills, and a natural sense of country-pop dynamics, Frankie Ballard would appear to have an unshakable template for country music stardom. Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, Ballard was singing Elvis Presley songs with his dad (and with fervor) by the time he was five, but he soon fell under the summer spell of baseball and pushed himself to excel as a ball player. He was 18 before he got his first guitar, but thereafter he spent hours playing guitar and music became his other passion. He began playing in blues bands on the weekends, juggling gigs with baseball games until eventually music won out and he dedicated himself to building a career as a performer. Ballard's big break came when he won Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in Michigan in 2008, going on to open for Chesney during the country starâs Michigan tour dates, which in turn led to Ballard being signed to a publishing deal with Sony ATV as well as a recording contract with Reprise Records. He moved to Nashville in the spring of 2009 and began working on a debut album with producer Michael Knox. A first single, âTell Me You Get Lonely,â was released in the spring of 2010, followed by "A Buncha Girls," and his self-titled long-player for Warner Nashville in May of 2011.
Album Review
The self-titled freshman album by Frankie Ballard, the winner of Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in Michigan in 2008, is a scant eight tracks, a little over 27 minutes, and the safest bet Nashville could place on a new artist in an uncertain 21st century music biz. The Michael Knox-produced effort opens with one of its two preceding singles, "A Buncha Girls," co-written by Ballard with Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, and Rhett Atkins. It's also the set's strongest track, as it revs up big midwest guitar rock à la John Mellencamp, tempered by banjos and pedal steel, and extremely crisp snare and kick drums. It's a fist-pumping, good-time anthem. Come to think of it, most of this record is flavored the same way, subsequent tracks "Single Again" and "Place to Lay Your Head" follow suit; and the album's other early single, "Tell Me You Get Lonely," is a midtempo rocker with the same big guitars and a Hammond B-3 for ballast. Up front is Ballard's voice, young, strong, ringing out crystal clear. Here, too, the Mellencamp influence is undeniable in Ballard's phrasing -- and perhaps overwhelming. Knox and the studio band play this up to a near fault, because these songs, decent though they may be, don't reach his influence's level. And while his guitar playing is better than adequate, the sounds are so generic, it's tough to tell his style from the session's other slinger, Adam Shoenfeld. Ballard's debut doesn't have any inherently weak tracks, but it doesn't possess any extraordinarily strong ones, either. It is a slight slice of good-time, contemporary radio, ear candy country. It will work in the clubs, it'll work in the car, and is virtually indistinguishable from what passes for Top 40 in Nash Vegas' rigid format.
Track Listing
1 A Buncha Girls Akins, Ballard, Davidson, Hayslip 3:34
2 Single Again Akins, Wiseman 3:20
3 Place to Lay Your Head Akins, Davidson, Hayslip 3:05
4 Tell Me You Get Lonely Davidson, Dodson 3:08
5 Get On Down the Road Murphy, Rutherford, Wicks 3:15
6 Sober Me Up Davidson, Gorley 3:35
7 Rescue Me Nichols, Singleton 3:43
8 Grandpa's Farm Cobb, Hood, Saenz 3:46