Jamey Johnson - 'That Lonesome Song'

That Lonesome Song Bottom Line:
Jamey Johnson is a country singer's country singer. Everything he does is spot-on, traditional, rootsy, straight-to-the-heart, a little angsty, a little blue. His follow-up CD to his debut, The Dollar, comes on strong with superior picking, good lyrics, and all delivered with Johnson's powerful deep baritone. So tell me... why didn't I like this CD more?

Sounds like Mainstream
I don't know if I'm just turning allergic to music that sounds like it belongs on today's country radio or what, but while listening to Johnson's very excellent singing voice, all I could hear was someone trying very hard to sound just like every other baritone singer out there. "Ah, here, he sounds like Toby Keith. There, he sounds like Trace Adkins."

And it's not that he's trying for that -- at least, I don't think he is. But there is a quality of sameness falling over everything that comes out of the mainstream these days: the perfunctory tragic song, the nostalgic song, the anti-drug message song, and so on and so forth. It's not bad, it's just boring. I find it tragic because I think someone with this much talent, and with that much talent behind him, could do so much better. But I guess that doesn't win ACM awards nor sell a couple million for the record label.

That Lonesome Song - The Songs:

The tragic songs: There's "Angel" and "Mowin' Down The Roses," both about the tragedy of lost love. The nostalgic songs: "In Color," about an old man going over those old sepia-toned black-and-whites with his nephew, and "The Last Cowboy," a pretty good cry out to the old ways and old styles. (As I said, I don't think he's trying for this sameness; he positively shines when singing covers such as Dickie Lee's "The Door Is Always Open" and Waylon's immortal "Dreaming My Dreams.")

The anti-drug-message song: "High Cost of Living." I realize this one, like many good country songs, is semi-autobiographical and it's very poignant, but I think it would have come on stronger if it had come later in the disc.

We close with a song that appears to explain it all, "Between Jennings and Jones," about how hard it is for a traditional singer to make it in Nashville today, and I guess I understand that compromise is the only way to really make it anymore, if you don't want to live out of a tip jar. But... man... I think this is also lacking seriously in something a little more lighthearted. There's not a single song on here to give a smile amidst the seriousness, and that might really be its greatest flaw. Something has to ease the pain a little in country music. Even Merle laughed a little.

Release Date: August 5, 2008 - Mercury Nashville

That Lonesome Song Track List:

1. Released
2. High Cost Of Living
3. Angel
4. Place Out On The Ocean
5. Mowin' Down The Roses
6. Door Is Always Open, The
7. Mary Go Round
8. In Color
9. The Last Cowboy
10. That Lonesome Song
11. Dreaming My Dreams
12. Women
13. Stars In Alabama
14. Between Jennings and Jones