Blog: Owen, Aldean and Church

Soundboard: Chicago country fans sound off on country music and share their opinions about who’s hot and what’s not.

Jake Owen: “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”

Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” has a catchy little chorus and can makes anyone smile. Someone commented that it’s “good beer drinking music”, it’s on that level to some, however, it does not carry a country vibe. Country music is about a lot more than summer songs about drinking beer. Country music is about a way of life, a way of feeling, but this song is just fluff with no real meaning to it and no country feel. It could easily be a new single on the pop charts.

 Jason Aldean: “Dirt Road Anthem”

Jason Aldean’s latest single, “Dirt Road Anthem”, combines traditional country elements and a bit of rapping. A combination, in my opinion, that just does not work.  Its’ incongruous. The rapping style worked with Garth Brooks’ “Ain’t Going Down ’till the Sun Comes Up” and Trace Adkins style in “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” But those two songs worked because they were just talking fast (rapping style) while still staying on the topic of the songs. Back then, the “fast talk” just seemed to flow. In “Dirt Road Anthem” the fast talk does not flow, it clashes. Country songs are best when listening to them conjures mental images. In “Ain’t Going Down” you can picture the cute little red-head making sure the horses are taken care of before she runs off with her boyfriend. In “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”, you can picture the woman he’s singing about getting up to dance. But, in “Dirt Road”, there is no clear mental picture because the song does not make it clear.  My opinion, Jason Aldean sounds better when he sings, his rapping sounds like someone trying way too hard.

Eric Church: “Home Boy”

Eric Church has an extremely intriguing sound. He sounds country but he also sounds smoky, and sultry, and that, in my opinion, is his appeal. When listening to “Hell on the Heart” you can feel his pain, you can also picture the kind of woman he is singing about. When he sings “Guys Like Me” images of “Ladies love Country Boys” by Trace Adkins comes to mind and while ladies do love country boys they love them more with that smoky sultry, deep voice that Eric Church has. Then there is Homeboy, Eric’s latest single. The first temptation is to turn it off because it’s another one of “those songs” but if you listen all the way through, that song and video has a couple of very powerful messages in it. These messages about being proud of where you come from, loving your family, the grass is NOT always greener tug at your heart in such a strong manner you can’t help but be enamored with.

Opinions and views expressed in Soundboard are of the author and may not be of CountryMusicChicago.com.

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