Music. According to Kim.

I was so happy when I heard that Steel Union was finally releasing an EP! If you've never heard of Steel Union, they're a fairly new country trio comprised of Rachel Potter, Donny Fallgatter and Josh Matheny. And they are wonderful. I have written about them before and there's one member that I've written about a few times on here: Rachel Potter. She's become one of my favorite female singers and once you hear her sing, you'll know why that is. She has such a great Broadway quality voice which works considering that she's actually performed on Broadway. She released a great album back in 2015 called Not So Black and White and you can find my review of that here . It was one of my favorite albums of 2015 and I still listen to it pretty often.  That said, as much as I like her solo stuff I am absolutely loving Steel Union. Donny Fallgatter has a great country voice while Josh Matheny brings some raspiness into the trio which I like. He's also the...

For this second installment of this mini-ECHO series or whatever you wish to call it, we have a mishmash of things. This was originally only going to be a song review, but where's the fun in that? Actually, I was thinking that this would be a good way to cover as many ECHO related things as possible. Because sometimes you need to go all out with something. In this case, that something would be introducing the world (well, my readers) to the wonders of this group. We have an EP review, a mini-video spotlight and a song review all mixed up together.  This is the first time I've attempted something like this, so we'll see how it works out. Go with it.

First things first. You may have heard about the terrible wildfires that have been plaguing parts of the South. I've been to Gatlinburg, TN a couple of times and it's such a beautiful part of the country. It's a wonderful place to visit and so seeing all the footage of it burning broke my heart. As of right now, three people have been killed and who knows how many buildings have been destroyed. They could really use our help right about now. If you can, and feel led to do so, here's where you can donate to the American Red Cross:  https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation . You can also donate to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee who will be giving grants to nonprofits helping out. If you're unable to give at this time, please keep the people of Gatlinburg in your thoughts and prayers. Everything helps. Now, today's EP isn't new, but it's a good one. I mean, it's Rachel Potter.  I've said it about her before, but Rachel is the kind o...

Two Story Road is the husband and wife duo of Brandon and Jamelle Fraley. Brandon has toured with Gretchen Wilson and Danny Gokey while Jamelle used to sing backup for Carrie Underwood. They met each other while they were both attending Belmont University and the rest is history. They released their self titled EP last December. The trouble was I first listened to it while I was listening to all of the other music I got in 2015. It sort of lost in the shuffle after having listened to so much other new stuff. Please note that that is in no way a reflection of the EP itself; I did like it quite a bit. It was more a case of listening too much new stuff too close together. I'm a little ashamed to say that I hadn't thought about it in a while until the opening song, "Arson", came on when I had my music of shuffle. I'd had my music on in the background while focusing on something else so I hadn't really been paying too much attention to what was playing. At least...

Welcome to my first EP review of 2016. I've kind of backed away from reviews for the most part, but when I listened to Heartbreak  by Natalie Stovall & The Drive, I knew I had to write about it. Suffice to say, I really like it. The key word for this EP is strong. I don't just mean strong musically or strong lyrically, although it is definitely both. It is also strong, vocally speaking. But what I love about this EP is that all six songs come from a place of strength. Not from partying like one of the boys. Not from a bottle. The kind of strength that comes from within. I feel empowered and uplifted after listening to it. I would recommend this EP to anyone who enjoys great music, but women especially. This is one every woman should have in their music collection. I've yet to see Natalie Stovall & The Drive live, but this makes me hope I get an opportunity to at some point. The sooner, the better. These songs are great and they deserve to be heard. Let's talk ab...

It makes me chuckle when people talk as if there aren't that many women in country music. It's amusing because that's so far from the truth. There are so many up and coming female artists out right now. Not even getting into women who have been in the public eye for years and are still putting out great music. We'll talk about some of them later on. Today it's all about an up-and-comer. Namely...