Category Archives: EP Review

Fallin’ For Dani Jack’s Debut EP ‘Grace’

You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the top 30 songs in Country Music right now, but Women in Country music are making their voices heard. With ladies like Maren Morris, Carly Pearce and Kelsea Ballerinileading the way, it’s clear that females want to listen to females. Nevada native,  Dani Jack is no different when it comes to strong and independent woman, changing the face of Country Music. Her vocals have such a wide range, she can bring in the traditional country listeners and the more modern crowd.

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With women on the rise, it’s important to have something to say and someone with whom other women can relate. Jack’s debut EP Grace has something for everyone and she told Variety Beat how special it is:

“Grace was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved to Nashville that kind of encompasses my whole life, always following my heart and my instincts even when it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. It’s a perfect representation of what this album is. I cowrote all six songs about personal experiences. I hope that anyone who listens can feel my heart and my soul in it.”

Jack recently took over our instagram story, which you can rewatch here!

Check out the rest of the EP which includes 6 songs that range all across the Country Music spectrum. From Patsy Cline to Carrie Underwood, there’s nothing she can’t sing. Her vocals shine through in each track and offer so much variety. It’s not just the same sound set to different music, but each track is truly a different experience.

“Fallin’ for It” – Upbeat and a perfect way to introduce Dani Jack to the world. It is the lead single of the EP.

“Toight I want to feel a little dangerous. I’m falling for it once again, watch my feet walk right off the cliff. When I think I’ve had enough, he’s always turning up.”

“Read My Mind” – Instantly catchy. A song that you can roll the windows down to, play louder, or jump and dance around to (preferably on a bed, using a hairbrush as a microphone).

“We’re so in sync, you got me thinking that you can read my mind. You can read my mind.”

“Grace” – Grab your cowboy boots and start swing dancing. “Grace” definitely channels some Miranda Lambert vibes as she sings about living in the fast lane.

“You can take a back seat, side street, try to keep up with her. Living in the fast lane, heartbreak rides up there with her. She ain’t gonna slow down, not now, don’t wait around for later. Cuz she’ll always find a feeling to chase, there just ain’t no saving grace.”

“Outrun” – One of the most powerful songs not the EP. It has a sultry yet bluesy sound to it as she struggles to believe in love again.

“Where I want to be loving so desperately. It feels good, but I know better, history tells me this won’t last forever. Wanna believe what you say, but I got the scars that won’t let me forget. When I let my heart outrun my head.”

“Perfect” – has such pure and crisp vocals. We really get a sense of the beautiful and simple nature of a song along with her voice.

“I feel like you’re worth it, you could be perfect, if we just let go and fall.”

“Hurt” –  The most somber song on the album, reflects on how much pain a break up can be and wondering if the other person is hurting as much as you are.

“I’m on my knees. This pain is real. Do you feel anything? I want it to hurt, I want it to burn. I wanted to see you bruise and cut right through til you’re bleeding in the dirt. I want it to ache, want your heart to break. And as you fall, you feel like all the air has gone away.”

Listen to Grace EP below!

 

More about Dani Jack:

When Dani is not focused on music, she is heavily involved in nonprofit work. She contributes her time to the Josh Powell Foundation, which provides tangible support to patients, survivors, and loved ones facing sarcoma cancer. She also dedicates her free time to the Espere Community Counseling Center, a nonprofit mental health center in Haiti that is dedicated to strengthening individuals, families, and communities by providing counseling, community outreach support, education, and hope.

 

Kelleigh Bannen Makes History On Sirius XM ‘The Highway’ With 3 New Songs!

It’s so hard to keep calm because finally, Kelleigh Bannen is getting the attention she deserves. Bannen has been in the country music scene for over a decade and it has been one heck of a ride so far. She’s one of the most talented singer/songwriters out there and maybe now, others will finally get to discover her music and talent.

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Bannen was previously signed to EMI Records Nashville but parted ways with the label and her management team and has been releasing music independently, along with a podcast series called This Nashville Life. Her previous EP Cheap Sunglasses came out two years ago this month. Since then, she has released three singles including the powerful “Church Clothes” and two Christmas songs “O Holy Night” and “Deck The Halls.”

Her new release The Joneses is listed as a single, but it’s a three in one! There are three songs (“The Joneses” “Happy Birthday” “John Who”) and Bannen has become the first artist to ever have all three songs in rotation as a “Highway find” on Sirius XM’s The Highway.

Although Bannen has been completely overwhelmed with this honor, she is completely deserving as she has been working hard and dealt with so many of the hardships that come with being a female artist in the country music industry. Her music now has a chance to be heard, to be found, to be appreciated. Our hope is that the new listeners will take the time to invest and get to know not only these songs but the essence of who she is.

She is so much more than she could ever reveal on social media, but she has the purest heart. Variety Beat often features artists we might not know well to help get their music out to the world, but we only champion artists who have not only an incredible talent but an incredible heart.

Bannen told RollingStone: “These three songs are personal and my favorite kind of storytelling: detail oriented, intimate, and, ultimately, hopeful. Ten years in, I’m just overwhelmed that each of these three songs will get the exposure they will get from being Highway Finds. It’s incredible, and, to be honest, I’m just shocked to be the first artist to have three songs in this program simultaneously. I hope music fans love the storytelling in these songs as much as I do.”

“John Who” is the first song in The Joneses  that starts off with a reflection of all the nice things this man did in the relationship and then things take a turn when he up and left, inspiring the chorus

I need a clean slate from this heartbreak

I need a reason to forget, get you the hell out of my head

I need a don’t look back kiss that stops me in my tracks

Someone that makes me say, anytime I hear your name

John Who? John Who? John Who?

John Who? John Who? John Who?

John who, I shouldn’t think about, but who wouldn’t think about someone they thought about for so long?

Every other memory. John who are you with right now? Are you kissing her now? Is she prettier than me? What do you see in her that you didn’t see in me?

LISTEN TO “JOHN WHO”

 

“Happy Birthday” is an emotional ballad about missing someone and thinking of them when their birthday comes around and not knowing how that phone call is going to go. It starts out with questions that come to mind when thinking of someone you still care about but who aren’t really a part of your life anymore, even though you wish they maybe still were.

“Did you get to sleep in? Did your grandmother send you a card with twenty in it? Did your boss say 30 is old? Did your nephew sing on the phone?

You’ll either pick up or you won’t. Hey it’s me, I know it’s kind of late but I had to call ya. Just to say hello, catch up, you know I was thinking of ya. Another year older, another year wiser. Bet you’re out with the guys, low-key drinking Budweiser.

I learned a little too late, you know what they say, I can’t have my cake and love you too. Anyway, Happy Birthday

Ever think about an ex and wonder if you should say something to them on their birthday? If they’re with someone now? What they are like?

…Maybe you’re out with a girl, if I say I don’t care, I’m a liar.

LISTEN TO “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”

 

If you’re too busy living in the moment to keep up with ‘The Joneses” then this song is your jam! It really kicks in with the chorus once we stop caring about not having the white picked fence and fancy car. Plus, Bannen finds a way to use “shut the front door” in a song so she’s basically the coolest person ever.

We don’t got what they got, they don’t got what we got. When it comes to the haves and the have-nots, we’d rather not keep up with the Joneses, what the hell for? Mind your own business, shut the front door. We ain’t rich but we own it, work all week just to blow it on a back yard tab, high-class, white trash, party on the patio. Too busy living in the moment to keep up with the Joneses.

LISTEN TO “THE JONESES”

 

The RollingStone also revealed that Bannen will be releasing tour dates soon, so we are basically freaking out over here and ready to jump on a plane to the nearest show! Be sure to check out her music wherever digital music is sold!

LINDSAY ELL’S EP ‘WORTH THE WAIT’ TOPS THE iTUNES CHARTS!

LINDSAY ELL’S WORTH THE WAIT AVAILABLE NOW

New EP Ascends To #2 iTunes Country / Top 10 iTunes All Genres

Nashville, TN (March 24, 2017) – Rising star Lindsay Ell’s highly-anticipated debut EP WORTH THE WAIT is available today (3/24) via Stoney Creek Records. Produced by celebrated GRAMMY-winning musician Kristian Bush (of Sugarland), fans and critics alike are buzzing over the budding star’s debut project as it quickly ascended to #2 on iTunes Country. Worth The Wait also rose to #7 on iTunes All Genres (at press time).

 

Buy and stream Worth The Wait here: http://smarturl.it/worththewait

Ell celebrated the career milestone on the eve of her debut (3/23), with an at-capacity crowd of fans, industry and tastemakers at Nashville venue Back Corner. With a rollicking full-band in tow, she previewed all six tracks from the EP to a fervent applause.  

 

Worth The Wait is stacked with vulnerability and is deliberate in its sequence, giving listeners a front row seat to a deeply personal narrative. Opening with the flirtatious “Waiting on You,” Ell breezily croons, “I’m a July sky / You’re a bottle rocket / I’m waiting on you…”  

“Criminal” then marks a cascading mood shift in an undefined relationship, capturing Ell’s tantalizing vocals over punchy guitar lines. “Space” and “Standing Here” are instantly relatable emotional stand-outs, featuring contributions from heavy-hitting songwriters including Caitlyn Smith and Ryan Hurd, respectively.  


The EP’s title track “Worth The Wait” begins to break down walls and sees a relationship come full-circle with its heartfelt lyrics and sweeping melody. Finally, Ell reimagines John Mayer’s “Stop This Train,” which not only concludes the project thematically, but also reconfirms the young talent’s capacity for guitar riffs knows no boundaries. 

Ell has even painted guitars to go along with each track! The first one has been revealed and you can even enter to win it!

 

Ell, who PerezHilton.com praised as having “all the makings to be a superstar” and The Calgary Herald lauded as “the complete package” thrives in a lane of her own as a multi-instrumentalist and lead guitar player, a rarity amongst females in the mainstream country music format. The Stoney Creek Records artist is currently performing nationally on superstar and fellow guitar shredder Brad Paisley’sLIFE AMPLIFIED WORLD TOUR. For a full list of tour dates, please visit: www.lindsayell.com/tour

WORTH THE WAIT TRACK LISTING:

1) “Waiting on You” (Lindsay Ell, Adam Hambrick, Andrew DeRoberts)
2) “Criminal” (Lindsay Ell, Chris Stevens, Fred Wilhelm)
3) “Space” (Caitlyn Smith, Heather Morgan, Maggie Chapman)
4) “Standing Here” (Melissa Peirce, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill)
5) “Worth The Wait” (Lindsay Ell, Travis Meadows)
6) “Stop This Train” (John Mayer, Pino Palladino)

ABOUT LINDSAY ELL:

Named one of The Huffington Post’s “Top Country Artists to Watch,” Lindsay Ell is a triple threat:  accomplished musician, unique vocalist and songwriter. The young Calgary native learned to play guitar while traveling with her father to country-bluegrass camps as a young girl. Ell honed her craft as a musical stylist and songwriter after being discovered by BTO and The Guess Who’s Randy Bachman (“American Woman” / “Taking Care of Business”) who discovered her at the age of 13.  The multi-instrumentalist was soon touring alongside the likes of Luke Bryan, Buddy Guy, The Band Perry and Keith Urban as well as wowing audiences as Carrie Underwood’s guitar player live on the 50th Annual CMA Awards and holding her own alongside icon Melissa Etheridge on Skyville Live.

A 2016 CMT Music Award and Canadian Country Music Award nominee, Ell exhilarated audiences from coast-to-coast as part of the 2016 CMT Next Women of Country Tour and is featured on Brad Paisley’s 2017 LIFE AMPLIFIED WORLD TOUR. Ell’s highly anticipated debut EP, WORTH THE WAIT (produced by GRAMMY winner Kristian Bush of Sugarland), is available now. For more information visit: http://www.LindsayEll.com.  

LINDSAY ELL SOCIAL MEDIA:
https://www.facebook.com/officiallindsayell/
https://twitter.com/lindsayell
https://www.instagram.com/lindsayell/

Snapchat: @LindsayEll

Kalie Shorr ‘Slingshots’ Into 2017 With Her Brand New EP

Back in 2016, Kalie Shorr released her debut EP that was crowdfunded last year and is looking to breakthrough in 2017. Shorr had a successful 2016 with her debut single, “Fight Like A Girl,” which received significant airplay on Sirius XM’s The Highway. Shorr was also featured as a Highway Find and earned a spot to play at the CMA Music Festival Kick Off Concert during CMA Fest in 2016. Shorr is currently playing every Monday night at Song Suffragettes along with other female songwriters in Nashville. Today, Shorr has just released her second EP titled, Slingshot, which features Shorr’s undeniable talent along with songs that listeners will be playing over and over.

Slingshot EP Review

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Slingshot features two singles; “Fight Like A Girl” and “He’s Just Not That Into You,” along with three new songs. The first new song on the EP is titled, “Nothin’ New.” Shorr co-wrote the song with Emily Landis and Lacy Green in a unique way. Back in the summer of 2016, the three were randomly paired up during a Song Suffragettes event with YouTube, where they had to write a song with one another under a time crunch. What came from this was a raw and emotional song about a breakup that just always seems to linger around no matter what you try to do. The chorus echos these thoughts into song form:

Since the beginning / Since the world started spinning / It’s just a matter of fact / Girls want boys that don’t want them back / I’m just being honest, don’t matter what you call it / The sun still shines the sky’s still blue / You don’t want me and I love you / But that ain’t nothing new

Watch The “He’s Just Not That Into You” Music Video

 

Shorr’s strong vocals tie together the lyrics with the meaning behind the song, which will leave listeners with everlasting impression. The next song on the EP is titled, “Love Like That,” which Shorr co-wrote with Jason Afable and Eric Mallon. The song is inspired from an old relationship Shorr had back in high school where the guy was totally clueless on what it means to love someone. This leaves Shorr with the question, where did you learn to love like that?

Where you learn to break apart, somebody’s heart / Take the piece you want right off / Where you learn to make them fall and never call / Only want to get yours and get lost

 

The song is not one of those sad breakup songs, but one about that one (or many) relationships where the guy doesn’t seem to understand the relationship. The song itself is upbeat and is not meant to be a dreary song, but instead questions the guy’s understanding of love and who taught him how to express it. It is a song that many will be able to connect with and can share similar stories.

The final song on the EP is titled, “Odds Are.” This song is the most country-pop infused track on the EP, but it is done in a way where the lyrics and message are still authentic. The chorus explains:

The odds are that we probably will be alright / I doubt we gonna be alright / I doubt we gonna be alright tonight / The odds are that we will probably be alright / I doubt we gonna be alright / I doubt we gonna be alright for another night

 

“Odds Are” you will be blaring this song through the speakers every chance you get, singing along with Shorr to the best of your ability. The clever lyrics describe situations of high-odds like being struck by lightning or a meteorite and explaining that even if the situation that you are in seams grim, odds are it will be alright. The song showcases Shorr’s dynamic vocal versatility to be able to sing any type of song without sacrificing any of her talent and what is born is a pop track transformed into a country song.

 

Altogether, Shorr’s latest EP is one that will bring in new fans with her unforgettable sound and lyrical quality that sets her a part from other artists. Shorr’s personality shines through each and every song, which allows them to more easily connect with fans. Shorr’s vocals are also top-notch and noticeably different from anyone else, creating her own unique sound with her personal twist on each song. Shorr, for sure, will be on everyone’s playlist and music libraries and keep them wanting more and she is well on her way on making 2017 her biggest year yet. Be sure to keep up with Shorr on social media and be on the look out for when she is in an area near you.

Purchase Slingshot on iTunes

Kalie Shorr – Slingshot EP

Lauren Davidson is on a Mission With Her Debut EP ‘Hear Me’ – Listen

But there’s a Fire burning in me / A heat that only I feel / And I’m creating a path of my own to build a life that feels real 

That set of lyrics from Lauren Davidson‘s new song “Don’t Stop” sets the tone for her entire EP, titled Hear Me. “Don’t Stop” is the first track off the EP Hear Me available now! The song is about chasing what you want in life and never letting it go. Davidson is no stranger to chasing dreams and what it take to achieve them. Her father is also a songwriter and a frequent collaborator with his daughter. They co-wrote four of the five  songs on Hear Me together!

 

The EP consists of 5 songs and is Davidson’s debut EP! It has a theme of independence and along with a drive to achieve goals and dreams. Davidson told Variety Beat about why she chose to name the EP Hear Me and why this EP is so important to her!

“Hear Me is my debut EP – it’s my introduction to the world as an artist, my way of saying “here I am” and “hear my voice, hear what I have to say.”It is also a track off of the EP and coincidentally the first song I ever wrote. This EP is so special to me for so many reasons and only one being that it’s the first of much to come. I’ve waited a long time to get this music out and I couldn’t be happier to share it with all of you!”

The EP shows diversity in songwriting and artist ability. “It’s You” takes a different spin on the phrase “It’s not you, it’s me” and directly says how it was in fact the other person that lead to the end of the relationship. It’s sung and presented in both and empowering and honest way that will ring true with many people struggling in relationships.

“Hear Me” takes up the country twang and sound while speaking about the need to be independent, strong and let one’s voice be heard.

 

“Sometimes” brings back a beautiful classic sound while being honest about the struggles and confusion of life in the most melodic way.

The EP ends on the song “Right Here With Me” which is the perfect ode to that special someone. Life with them is simply better and seems to make even the dark times in life sunnier.

Davidson has put out an EP she can be proud of and told Variety Beat about finding her voice:

“I have finally found my voice and my sound which I think really came to light during the recording process. There are so many talented women who I look up to and admire including Alanis Morisette, Grace Potter, Carrie Underwood that influence my music but I am also very influenced by my emotions and experiences when I write.”

The EP Hear Me is available for listening and downloading now!