
Kendal Conrad is a young country music singer-songwriter, but she has accomplished so much already. She has opened for countless artists in the industry including Craig Morgan, Easton Corbin, and Rodney Atkins. Most impressively, she performed with Keith Urban on his Raise 'Em Up Tour in 2014, singing Miranda Lambert's part in "We Were Us." He named that performance one of his favorite moments of the whole tour. This is her first single released to iTunes, and is an introduction to her music.
Production wise, and vocally, this is an incredible track. This song is an absolute country song, with the fiddle, guitar, and banjo clucking along throughout the song. It is a dance-oriented song, but not in the way Raelynn's songs beg for a Calvin Harris remix. This song is more aimed for line dancing. Many accomplished musicians play on this track, including Michael Rojas, who was named Piano/Keyboards Player of the Year at the ACM Awards, Towards the end of the track, Conrad's vocals become breathtaking. She belts "country queen" at the level of Carrie Underwood and Mickey Guyton. Her vocals are top notch, explaining why she impressed Keith Urban so much when she performed with him.
The obvious similarities between the name of this track and this blog is a benefit, because this song does show partly what the purpose of this blog is. Lyrically, Conrad describes the cliche of country music. She doesn't refute it, like other artists such as Maddie & Tae have done, but she emphasizes it, and embraces it. In some ways, this is the first step to getting more women on country radio. Conrad shows that she belongs in the tailgating/honky-tonk/line dancing culture just as much as the men do. Kelsea Ballerini did that with her No. 1 in a different way, by adopting the pop-country production of the men's music these days. Originally written for Reba McEntire, this song is the perfect song for a girl just trying to make it in the country industry.
Overall rating: 4 crowns
The obvious similarities between the name of this track and this blog is a benefit, because this song does show partly what the purpose of this blog is. Lyrically, Conrad describes the cliche of country music. She doesn't refute it, like other artists such as Maddie & Tae have done, but she emphasizes it, and embraces it. In some ways, this is the first step to getting more women on country radio. Conrad shows that she belongs in the tailgating/honky-tonk/line dancing culture just as much as the men do. Kelsea Ballerini did that with her No. 1 in a different way, by adopting the pop-country production of the men's music these days. Originally written for Reba McEntire, this song is the perfect song for a girl just trying to make it in the country industry.
Overall rating: 4 crowns