It Is Simply His Time
Angela Backstrom
Posted On May 10, 2015
Truly, this is the album that will be hard to beat for 2015.
Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton has been penning hits for mainstream country artists for the past 15 years. He’s also been making his mark with three-time Grammy-nominated bluegrass band the SteelDrivers from 2008 to 2010. Now is simply his time to shine, with his debut solo album, Traveller.
This album is pure poetry. There is nothing fake or pretentious about Stapleton. He is the real deal. He has one hell of a voice and writes music like it’s poetry.
It includes the ’70s sounds of the title track, with hooks you just can’t resist singing in time to. The album then travels easily to the powerhouse ballad of “Fire Away,” where Stapleton’s words are stirring and emotive.
Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove’s tune “Tennessee Whiskey” was popularized by both David Allan Coe and George Jones in the early ’80s. But Stapleton distinguishes his version with a soulful rendition that has a vintage feel, as if it had come from a studio like Chess Records. I can almost imagine him singing this to Etta James under the watchful eyes of Phil Chess.
“Whiskey and You” is a gentle conversation that builds into an all-or-nothing arrangement. The storytelling of “Nobody to Blame” displays Stapleton’s songwriting skills at their most engaging, in a ballad about an angry lover and how the poor fellow to blame accepts his fate.
“More of You” could just as well have come from Gram and Emmylou. “Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore” is a lovely ballad to honor his father. And the final track, “Sometimes I Cry,” is bluesy and soulful, featuring Stapleton’s vocals at their absolute gut-wrenching, soul-destroying best.
This will easily be one of the best albums of 2015 in the Americana genre, and I do not say this lightly.
