Brad Cotter - Songwriter's Demo

A bare bones, lightly produced package of self-written songs form Nashville Star 2 winner Brad Cotter. This CD sure has whetted my appetite for Brad’s first Sony album, due in July of 2004.

After kicking around Nashville for eight years or so, Brad Cotter entered into the Nashville Star contest with hopes of gaining exposure. While not picked by the judges to be in the final 10, Brad was one of six who got to stick around for an extra week and work with the show. Like Buddy Jewell last year, Brad became the fan favorite, on the basis of solid songs and a strong stage presence. Thus he bucked the long odds to become the winner of Nashville Star’s second season.

On this “Songwriter’s Demo” the first track “You Gotta Be Country” is Brad’s mission statement about his genre of choice. The glorious “I Miss Me” is such a great song that I wonder how something as good as this can fall through the cracks. It’s about a guy who is lost without his last girlfriend. “I’ve Got The Time” finds a smooth voiced Brad singing about living within his means: both life and love. “Hard To Be A Rock” has a country/pop sound to it that would do really well on current country radio. “I Meant To” is Brad’s first ever single. It is a well-written philosophical song about living with no regrets. “High On Love” is a song about high school sweethearts bucking the odds.

Brad’s “Songwriter’s Demo” is a fine piece of work that is far more sophisticated than I expected it to be, It’s a full production demo that fully showcases both the great songs and Brad’s voice. Until I can get a copy of Brad’s first Sony CD, I will be spinning this one continuously.