Ty Herndon-Right About Now
Album Review by:Cheryl Harvey Hill, Sr. Staff Journalist
A lot of folks are saying "he's back," but I've known him for many years and after listening to his new album, I wouldn't say he's back; I'd say he has finally arrived.
Ty Herndon will be the first to tell you that throughout his career, to date, he has taken two steps forward and then one step back. He could never seem to break free of his own nightmares but Right About Now I feel that I can say with absolute confidence that he is finally free of past demons. If this album is, as he says, a reflection of where he is in his life, than I'd say the road in front of him is clear of detours. The media blurb that accompanied the CD referred to it as a "comeback collection" but I really feel this is actually his debut album as a whole person since what you will hear on all eleven tracks is a healthy soul with a superior voice. This is, by far, his best work yet and for those of you with short memories, he has had much success in this crazy industry.
The album kicks off with a very rhythmic, easy listening tune titled "Someday Soon," written by Darrell Brown, Radney Foster, and Keith Urban. Need I say more?
Everything familiar feels so new to me / I might look the same but I'm not who I used to be / Love is going to build a bridge from me to you / And faith is going to find a way to pull me through
The title cut, Right About Now, is an incredibly beautiful love song, written by Darrell Brown and Michael Peterson that really allows Herndon to show off his vocal range. There is a nice balance between up-tempo, boot scooters and generic (I mean that in a positive way) ballads. There is not a disappointing track on the album and the list of songwriters who wrote for this project reads like right out of "who's who in country music".
"Hide" is one of the tracks that stuck in my mind and "Mercy Line" made it impossible for me to keep from tapping my keyboard. If I hadn't erased it, it would have looked like this ",'," for about a page and a half as I got carried away. "We Are," written by Jim and Ryan Rushing, has some great lyrics and incredible vocal harmonies on the chorus.
Picking a favorite song was nearly impossible. There is enough diversity in the tempo and lyrics of each song that it is difficult to compare one to another but as I listened to his voice infuse the lyrics of "We Are" to the depth of my being, it took my breath away. There are few artists today, or in the history of this genre, capable of delivering a song the way Herndon does. I'm not even sure I understand how or why his voice effects people so deeply the way it does but I do know that it does, because it affects me that way. Perhaps he said it best, himself, when he said, "My greatest ability is my ability to interpret a song, put it on tape and make it believable." Maybe that's it; he definitely is believable when he sings, but just saying his delivery of a song is great because it is believable seems like such a huge under statement.
The final cut is a most appropriate ending for an album of songs from the son of a family of gospel singers. "There Will Be a Better Day" is musically simple and the perfect vehicle to showcase the true strength of Herndon's voice. Kudos to Darrell Brown and Beth Nielsen Chapman for writing such a splendid song and perhaps this song best illustrates what I was trying to say earlier; the key to the amazing caliber and intensity of his voice is simply the ease with which he delivers the lyrics. Like fine wine, some things just improve over time. You can count Ty Herndon among those special things. He has never looked or sounded better in his career than he does now. This is one album you don't want to miss.
Catching Up With Ty
www.tyherndon.com
A lot of folks are saying "he's back," but I've known him for many years and after listening to his new album, I wouldn't say he's back; I'd say he has finally arrived.
Ty Herndon will be the first to tell you that throughout his career, to date, he has taken two steps forward and then one step back. He could never seem to break free of his own nightmares but Right About Now I feel that I can say with absolute confidence that he is finally free of past demons. If this album is, as he says, a reflection of where he is in his life, than I'd say the road in front of him is clear of detours. The media blurb that accompanied the CD referred to it as a "comeback collection" but I really feel this is actually his debut album as a whole person since what you will hear on all eleven tracks is a healthy soul with a superior voice. This is, by far, his best work yet and for those of you with short memories, he has had much success in this crazy industry.
The album kicks off with a very rhythmic, easy listening tune titled "Someday Soon," written by Darrell Brown, Radney Foster, and Keith Urban. Need I say more?
Everything familiar feels so new to me / I might look the same but I'm not who I used to be / Love is going to build a bridge from me to you / And faith is going to find a way to pull me through
The title cut, Right About Now, is an incredibly beautiful love song, written by Darrell Brown and Michael Peterson that really allows Herndon to show off his vocal range. There is a nice balance between up-tempo, boot scooters and generic (I mean that in a positive way) ballads. There is not a disappointing track on the album and the list of songwriters who wrote for this project reads like right out of "who's who in country music".
"Hide" is one of the tracks that stuck in my mind and "Mercy Line" made it impossible for me to keep from tapping my keyboard. If I hadn't erased it, it would have looked like this ",'," for about a page and a half as I got carried away. "We Are," written by Jim and Ryan Rushing, has some great lyrics and incredible vocal harmonies on the chorus.
Picking a favorite song was nearly impossible. There is enough diversity in the tempo and lyrics of each song that it is difficult to compare one to another but as I listened to his voice infuse the lyrics of "We Are" to the depth of my being, it took my breath away. There are few artists today, or in the history of this genre, capable of delivering a song the way Herndon does. I'm not even sure I understand how or why his voice effects people so deeply the way it does but I do know that it does, because it affects me that way. Perhaps he said it best, himself, when he said, "My greatest ability is my ability to interpret a song, put it on tape and make it believable." Maybe that's it; he definitely is believable when he sings, but just saying his delivery of a song is great because it is believable seems like such a huge under statement.
The final cut is a most appropriate ending for an album of songs from the son of a family of gospel singers. "There Will Be a Better Day" is musically simple and the perfect vehicle to showcase the true strength of Herndon's voice. Kudos to Darrell Brown and Beth Nielsen Chapman for writing such a splendid song and perhaps this song best illustrates what I was trying to say earlier; the key to the amazing caliber and intensity of his voice is simply the ease with which he delivers the lyrics. Like fine wine, some things just improve over time. You can count Ty Herndon among those special things. He has never looked or sounded better in his career than he does now. This is one album you don't want to miss.
Catching Up With Ty
www.tyherndon.com