Sammy Kershaw - Honky Tonk Boots

The Road Back To Radio Airplay

Sammy recently signed with Category 5 records and immediately started work on a new project. This 10 track album was produced by Buddy Cannon and distributed by Sony/Red. Sammy has long been compared to country music icon George Jones with his distinctive delivery. He was born in Louisiana in the heart of Cajun country and you can hear that influence in much of his music. He is very roots oriented in his music and in a recent interview he said, "Country music is not a formula. It's a music with its own soul and I'm all about saving that soul!" With the release of Honky Tonk Boots, he seems to be well on his way. The first single, "Tennessee Girl," put Sammy back on the charts. "Tennessee Girl" starts off the CD with a catchy little tune wanting that 'T e double n e double s double e Girl.' It is a fun summertime song.

The Roots of the Music

There are a couple of covers on this CD such as "Evangaline" and the Mel McDaniel classic "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On." "Honky Tonk Boots" is another uptempo number about having solid country roots. "I was born in a corner booth, slipped a little nipple on a Pabst Ribbon Blue…I just can't hang up my honky tonk boots." There are some slow ballads like "One Step At A Time" and "The Battle." "Mama's Got A Tattoo" is about a woman who is out of a job because she showed up to work one day to find a note on the door that the factory had closed. So she ended up with a tattoo that was red, white and blue. "Cantaloupes on Mars" is probably my favorite song for the lyrics. It is a song about when he'll forgive her and take her back. So his criteria is when cantaloupes grow on mars, they serve quiche in a country bar, the world's fair comes to Kaplan, LA and a cow really jumps over the moon. Then he'll come back to her. It was a fun end to the album. Lyrically, I really enjoyed the album. It seemed that there wasn't a lot of emotion involved in the delivery. More emotion would have made this an exceptional CD, but as it stands it is still a very good CD that anyone who appreciates the roots of the music will like this one.