ARTiST: Josh Thompson
ALBUM: Way Out Here
BiTRATE: 196kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Sony
GENRE: Country
SiZE: 52.85 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 35min 44sec total
RiP DATE: 2010-03-02
STORE DATE: 2010-03-02

Track List:
--------
01. Beer On The Table                3:10
02. Blame It On Way                  3:32
03. Sinner                           3:56
04. Won't Be Lonely Long             3:43
05. Always Been Me                   3:38
06. A Name In This Town              3:49
07. Way Out Here                     4:06
08. You Ain't Seen Country Yet       3:18
09. Back Around                      3:10
10. I Won't Go Crazy                 3:22

Release Notes:
--------
Josh Thompson certainly has an interesting backstory. In college, he took a
wilderness guide course, literally living off the land for nine months. That's
cool. He played in a country band at a music festival in my home state (hint:
peninsulas are involved). That's cool. He cites Haggard as an influence, and
he's opened for certified badasses Jamey Johnson and Hank Williams, Jr. Also
cool. Co-writes with David Lee Murphy, George Ducas, Rhett Akins, Dallas
Davidson? You guessed it; also cool.

The album kicks off with its first single, the Top 20 hit "Beer on the Table."
Although this kind of song has been done so many times before (the lyric
"working hard all week puts the beer on the table" says it all), Thompson sells
it with an engaging everyman vocal. This song was a strong choice for the
lead-off single, but it's only a taste of what the other nine tracks offer.

Thompson comes off confident and assured in every song, and while the lyrics
mine a very large number of country-boy imagery, his imagery is judicious,
original and authentic. He doesn't drop Haggard's and Jones' names while
sounding more like Bon Jovi; instead, he offers gems like "If you ain't made
love to a Haggard cassette, well, you ain't seen country yet." Similarly, when
he sings about all of his personality traits can be traced back somewhere (think
Sawyer Brown's "Thank God for You"), his musical tastes and outlaw persona trace
back to Waylon Jennings. "Way Out Here" tells us that his folks smoke and chew
and fry everything, and somehow comes up with a multiple name-drop ("John Wayne,
Johnny Cash and John Deere") that is both authentic and clever.

"Won't Be Lonely Long" employs an effective bait-and-switch, starting off
painting a picture of a dejected man who can barely muster up the strength to
fire up his truck, but once he's on the bar, he's partying. The opening verse is
full of evocative details that would lead off to a sad, downbeat song which
would be every bit as excellent even if it stuck in that vein.

"Sinner" finds him confessing that he is indeed a sinner, but has not swayed in
his beliefs. Its religious images are fairly obvious but not contrived or
overdone, making the song positively refreshing in an era where it seems that
songwriters believe that religious images have to be beaten over the listener's
head.

On the unapologetic "Always Been Me," Thompson sings that he has "never acted
fake to impress anyone," which is only driven home in "A Name in This Town." In
that song, he offers some very original details about all the cool things he's
done; caught a big fish, fought his way out of a bar, broken a land speed record
down an old backroad, et cetera. Indeed, Thompson comes off as just a good ol'
boy singing about himself. And that's exactly what he is.

"Back Around" shows a softer side with its evocative reminiscence ("We lost more
than a diamond earring" alone is a winner) of that first taste of love, much
like a male version of "Strawberry Wine." After it comes the closer "I Won't Go
Crazy," another slower song that offers the killer hook "My mind's broke, but I
won't go crazy." In it, he says that he just might grow a beard or take advice
from a gypsy or do anything to get her off his mind, but not go crazy.

Thompson posesses a clear, distinctive, confident voice that combines the
easygoing charm of Brad Paisley with the bracing grit of Trent Willmon. His
lyrics are simple, conversational and fresh; his melodies, rock-solid. Michael
Knox's production is strong and energetic without being overbearing, keeping the
songs unabashedly country. All ten songs (I thought ten-song albums died with
the digital era!) are cohesive and uniform in quality, offering a crystal-clear
image of who he is both musically and personally. Way Out Here is one of the
most impressive country debuts in recent history.

You Can Support Josh Thompson by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.



This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net

ARTiST: Josh Thompson
ALBUM: Way Out Here
BiTRATE: 196kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Sony
GENRE: Country
SiZE: 52.85 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 35min 44sec total
RiP DATE: 2010-03-02
STORE DATE: 2010-03-02

Track List:
--------
01. Beer On The Table                3:10
02. Blame It On Way                  3:32
03. Sinner                           3:56
04. Won't Be Lonely Long             3:43
05. Always Been Me                   3:38
06. A Name In This Town              3:49
07. Way Out Here                     4:06
08. You Ain't Seen Country Yet       3:18
09. Back Around                      3:10
10. I Won't Go Crazy                 3:22

Release Notes:
--------
Josh Thompson certainly has an interesting backstory. In college, he took a
wilderness guide course, literally living off the land for nine months. That's
cool. He played in a country band at a music festival in my home state (hint:
peninsulas are involved). That's cool. He cites Haggard as an influence, and
he's opened for certified badasses Jamey Johnson and Hank Williams, Jr. Also
cool. Co-writes with David Lee Murphy, George Ducas, Rhett Akins, Dallas
Davidson? You guessed it; also cool.

The album kicks off with its first single, the Top 20 hit "Beer on the Table."
Although this kind of song has been done so many times before (the lyric
"working hard all week puts the beer on the table" says it all), Thompson sells
it with an engaging everyman vocal. This song was a strong choice for the
lead-off single, but it's only a taste of what the other nine tracks offer.

Thompson comes off confident and assured in every song, and while the lyrics
mine a very large number of country-boy imagery, his imagery is judicious,
original and authentic. He doesn't drop Haggard's and Jones' names while
sounding more like Bon Jovi; instead, he offers gems like "If you ain't made
love to a Haggard cassette, well, you ain't seen country yet." Similarly, when
he sings about all of his personality traits can be traced back somewhere (think
Sawyer Brown's "Thank God for You"), his musical tastes and outlaw persona trace
back to Waylon Jennings. "Way Out Here" tells us that his folks smoke and chew
and fry everything, and somehow comes up with a multiple name-drop ("John Wayne,
Johnny Cash and John Deere") that is both authentic and clever.

"Won't Be Lonely Long" employs an effective bait-and-switch, starting off
painting a picture of a dejected man who can barely muster up the strength to
fire up his truck, but once he's on the bar, he's partying. The opening verse is
full of evocative details that would lead off to a sad, downbeat song which
would be every bit as excellent even if it stuck in that vein.

"Sinner" finds him confessing that he is indeed a sinner, but has not swayed in
his beliefs. Its religious images are fairly obvious but not contrived or
overdone, making the song positively refreshing in an era where it seems that
songwriters believe that religious images have to be beaten over the listener's
head.

On the unapologetic "Always Been Me," Thompson sings that he has "never acted
fake to impress anyone," which is only driven home in "A Name in This Town." In
that song, he offers some very original details about all the cool things he's
done; caught a big fish, fought his way out of a bar, broken a land speed record
down an old backroad, et cetera. Indeed, Thompson comes off as just a good ol'
boy singing about himself. And that's exactly what he is.

"Back Around" shows a softer side with its evocative reminiscence ("We lost more
than a diamond earring" alone is a winner) of that first taste of love, much
like a male version of "Strawberry Wine." After it comes the closer "I Won't Go
Crazy," another slower song that offers the killer hook "My mind's broke, but I
won't go crazy." In it, he says that he just might grow a beard or take advice
from a gypsy or do anything to get her off his mind, but not go crazy.

Thompson posesses a clear, distinctive, confident voice that combines the
easygoing charm of Brad Paisley with the bracing grit of Trent Willmon. His
lyrics are simple, conversational and fresh; his melodies, rock-solid. Michael
Knox's production is strong and energetic without being overbearing, keeping the
songs unabashedly country. All ten songs (I thought ten-song albums died with
the digital era!) are cohesive and uniform in quality, offering a crystal-clear
image of who he is both musically and personally. Way Out Here is one of the
most impressive country debuts in recent history.

You Can Support Josh Thompson by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.



This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net