Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Album Review: Nearly Nowhere by Jeremy Calley



Jeremy Calley is a preacher's son from "nearly nowhere" in Midland Texas. Like many preacher's kids, he rebelled against his father's rules. Unlike most of them, Jeremy tells his tales of excess and lessons learned through song. Nearly Nowhere is Jeremy's first release. Independent, in every sense of the word, Jeremy blazes his own trail on this self published title. Although not yet with a label, Jeremy shows a lot of polish and modern Country sensibilities. His voice is a breathier version of Luke Bryan or Keith Urban with just a touch of Casey Donahew attitude to prove he's from Texas.

The music sounds like it came straight from Music Row (with maybe a side trip to Austin.) With lots of catchy hooks and guitar riffs Jeremy seems to burst on the scene tailor made for CMT. His lead off song, "Barditch," is a perfect summary of his style. It's a little rowdy with a great sing-a-long chorus (Now I'm standing in a barditch, sun beatin' down. Two lane road to a one horse town. Sit around thinkin' 'bout all the fun I never had. Lookin' back, Luckenbach wasn't that bad."
"Come to Find Out" keeps the party going with another uptempo Country rocker with another memorable chorus. Like "Barditch," this song reveals another personal lesson learned the hard way: "come to find out maybe she was crazy, come to find out, should have seen it all along." "Thinkin' Bout You," "Whiskey or Beer," and "Kick Rocks" keep the pedal to the metal and keep the good times rolling along.

Jeremy takes a more introspective turn on the album's "second side." Beginning with "Songs About Love," Jeremy slows the pace a bit and digs a little deeper lyrically. Sounding like fellow alt-Country Texans Pat Green and Casey Donahew, he sings, "he misses his family and most of his friends, he let the whiskey cost him both in the end. He speaks of a river and a dying man's words. He stood up delivered and survived every verse of these songs about love and songs about pain." "She Ain't Lonely" and "Throwin' Smoke" continue the Southern Rock Ballad style songs about love and loss. Jeremy ends with his most personal, confessional song, "Break Me Down." After running on the wild side and learning love's hard lessons, he turns his attention inward and ponders, " have all the lines I hide behind all been self imposed?" Maybe sometimes it takes some hard living to realize some hard truths. But Jeremy seems to have found some answers both personally and musically. And with music this good, it won't be long before this boy from nearly nowhere ends up somewhere big!

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