The music business is a hard place to make a living. It is very rare that people make a lot of money and it's hard work to make a full living off of it. 25 year old Ashton Shepherd has been aiming for a life as a country star since she could talk according to her back story, and as talented a singer and writer as she is, her life looks to be on the path of one fighting to get by. To make it in Nashville you have to be able to produce number one hits and her sound is not geared that way. She did reach out to some big time Nashville writers who contribute a couple of tracks, but Shepherd has yet to find that big hit. My guess is her label will give her one more shot before she has to go independent.
Shepherd has a lot to offer country music. She's a good songwriter and has a solid voice. She is very heavily influenced by The Dixie Chicks, who isn't, but she sounds unique enough to be fun and interesting.
If you like the Chicks then I would say give her a try and see what you think. A good album to put on while painting the house.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 2 out of 5 stars for Not Bad.
in the movie "it's complicated," which is my favorite movie that i've seen this year, there's this great exchange between Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep where she talks about how there was part of her that was glad he cheated so she wouldn't eventually end up being the cheater. it was an excellent little bit of dark writing.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to compare this song to "Kerosene," a song by Miranda Lambert trying to express the same basic mood about the same basic topic. "Look It Up" is an OK song, but it feels somewhat generic, whereas "Kerosene" gives off a sense of genuine menace.
ReplyDeleteBut it sounds from your review as though Ashton Shepherd has strengths that aren't apparent from "Look It Up."
I did some reading about Shepherd. There seems to be a notion that she was brought in to MCA to be their Miranda Lambert, so I'm glad you made that connection without me mentioning it.
ReplyDeleteThis sophomore album seemed to be streamlined a bit more than her debut. In fact "Look It Up" is not one of her songs, but one the studio provided her.
To go back to your point from the beginning of this piece, trying to play in the same league as Miranda Lambert is not easy.
ReplyDeleteThe key to Shepherd will be to see whether or not she sticks with it. Can she get a big enough following to go independent and make a career and find her own voice. At that point it will be good to hear what kind of music she's making.
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of music do you think she would make on her own, if she could find her own audience?
ReplyDeleteWho knows? Who would have thought KD Lang would go the path she did? Shepherd seems to have a lot of interest in the older country music from the 50's, but she's also obviously influenced as a singer by Natalie Maines. Combine those to strong influences and what do you have, I'm not sure. Would she stick with this bad girl thing that she's trying to do or go off and find a completely different voice? This is why it's so hard for country artist like this who start down the Nashville path to get on a different track. Like so many before her she'll probably end up in Austin Texas trying to make a go of it down there. Once you're there it's a whole different scene. So you meet up with different artists doing different things and who knows what kind of sound you come out with.
ReplyDeletethis conversation reminds me just how much i want to return to branson, mo. we went when i was about 10, and i had a blast. i think i would absolutely love it there now.
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