Customer Reviews

Big Love in a Small Town

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wanted this CD after hearing "He Hates Me" on the radio, but ALMOST didn't buy it after reading some reviews that made her album sound like something from a Gretchen Wilson wannabe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sarah Johns not only has a good vocal range, her songs reflect a great stylistic range. Feisty like Gretchen, but with a lot less anger...and a great sense of humor. I really look forward to her next effort - and am glad I took a chance and bought this one. Do the same - you'll be glad you did.

Sarah Johns is part of a refreshing crop of country babes on the scene. I truly enjoyed this CD top to bottom. It's unapologetically country and there's no shortage of fiddle and steel guitar.

Johns reminds me a lot of Patty Loveless. Her voice is pure country, and her songs are relevant, entertaining, and solid. I'm not sure where these negative reviews are coming from.

Country music is my life. I listen to a lot of it. Yes, it's very Nashville, but it's not Keith Urban Nashville, this gal has a lot more in common with real country acts like Mark Chesnutt rather than the sugary styles of Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift.

Of course we've heard it all before. Drinkin, cheatin husbands, etc. But that is what country music is, and if you don't like it, listen to something else.

Overall, this is a great CD, and I hope she goes real far.

This is a nice, fun CD. The music is good, an enjoyable mix of the feisty and the ballad. The lyrics to a number of songs are amusing too, and the listener gets the impression Sara likes life and making music. Modern country, but by no means raucus.

These songs touch on most of the themes good country songs should. Combine that with a good band, good singing, clever lyrics, and some good hooks and you've got one heckuva record. Sarah comes across with the grit and sass of a Gretchen Wilson and the big voice, too. You'll be tapping your toes to this one.

Sarah Jones has been a great find! She seems serious but fun - love her voice and lyrics!

Prime Cuts: He Hates Me, It's Hard to Be a Girl, That's Just Me Getting Over You

Size matters when it comes to Johns' debut disc. There is more than just "Big Love in a Small Town," Johns herself has a booming soprano recalling a young Pam Tillis. Although she may not vocally command an aria, there are so much passion and commitment invested in her vocals that it would be hard to fall asleep every time this Pollard, KY native opens her mouth. As far as the music is concerned, this projected piloted by Joe Scaife whose credit include Van Zant and Gretchen Wilson is another polished pop-country endeavor with that occasional fiddling to remind us that it still part of the country genre. Genre aside, these 11 tracks unfortunately do not escape the mediocre trappings of what is coming out of Nashville today. Like Martina McBride's last couple of CDs, Johns and Sacife seemed to embrace the philosophy that "loud is better." Such an axis certainly has its advantages as many of the songs here bristles with an engaging realism. However, at other moments, the lack of subtlety has led to the sacrifice of the emotional shades of the lyrics.

To start off, let us tackle the songs that do work. "He Hates Me" finds Johns narrating with perspicuity a date from hell: not only did she spill red wine on his shirt, she stuttered and stumbled, and to top it all off, her ex came in and started fighting with her date. After such fiasco, Johns still dreams, "we could be honeymoonin' south of the border/If he'd just drop that restraining order!" Johns also fronts a lineup of ballads that showcase her more sober side. Setting her befuddled emotions of unacquainted love to music, "It's Hard to Be a Girl" is bittersweet ballad that comes from the pens of Johns herself with Dean Dillon and Dale Dodson. The evocative flourishes of violins, cellos and violas augmented by Johns powerful vocals certainly elevates "It's Hard to be a Girl" into an instant classic status. Less affecting but definitely more country is the fiddle-imposed Lee Ann Womack-styled ballad "That's Just Me Getting over You." Taking a sidetrack to the religious domain, the gritty Delta blues shading of "Muddy Waters" recalls an afternoon of family-witnessed baptism that has a homely charm.

However, Johns has committed the unforgivable sin of many aspiring new artists: she co-wrote every song. Her inexperience at songwriting shows. Lead single "The One in the Middle," which is currently struggling to cause a ripple on the Billboard charts, is a searing indictment of a feckless lover with Johns "giving him a finger." Frankly, the lyrics are at best juvenile. When Johns tries to get her hands around a drinking song (e.g., `If You Could Hold Your Woman") she comes across unconvincingly marred mostly by the overuse of clichés. The lyrics of "Touch Me" sounds like lines borrowed from a horny teenager's diary: "touch me baby touch me/Kiss every inch of my body/Baby love me like you love me." Moreover, "Touch Me" would not have been so cloddish if Johns were to be more subtle in her delivery.

In the harsh environment of today's country music milieu where new artists are supposed to sell or be dump, with a debut record like this Johns' future is worrisome. Though this is by no means an inferior record, save for "It's Hard to be a Girl" there is nothing here that is truly hit material. Often let down by the average or below average material enhanced by Sacife's over cluttered production, Johns sadly becomes just one of many female artists out there. Let's hope BNA Records do give her a chance, there's potential in Johns, it's just that its not in this record.

Sarah Johns sounds just like Gretchen Wilson (voice, songs, and style sound the same). Sarah needs to develop her own style and not try and impersonate Gretchen. Furthermore, these songs are awful, her singing is terrible...might I recommend that she take some singing lessons?

Don't buy this CD (total waste of $)...buy Carrie Underwood or Kellie Pickler instead.