Anyone who didn't watch the last season of X-Factor and
doesn't live around his hometown in Missouri probably doesn't know about Tate
Stevens. The rest of us do. From the moment he auditioned, it was obvious he
had the Country voice and 'the twang'.
During the course of the show he explored other musical
styles but always with his characteristic down-home, wholesome, middle
American, small-town style.
There's a lot to like about Tate Steven's self-titled debut
album, his first recording effort since appearing on the show. (There are some
older efforts dating back to the mid-'90's before he took a hiatus to carry out
his role as husband and father.) He's the kind of guy you know you could
hang-out with, laid-back, unassuming, that sort of guy who would say hello to
you if you saw him in the Piggly Wiggly, the corner diner, or the gas station
on the edge of town. He's real in a world of plastic pretenders. He used to
work for a paving company before appearing on the X-Factor. This is a blue-collar
guy singing blue-collar music and loving every minute of it. That comes shining
through in the music he's recorded for his debut CD.
The eleven-song play list explores no really new territory
for the Country genre, but it probably doesn't need to. Steven's performance is
as solid of the fans he garnered during the course of X-Factor came to expect.
From the first verse of I Got This, the introductory song on the CD, it's clear
that he truly does 'get it'. He's playing to the hometown crowd, for sure. The
song is all about being a hard working guy who drives a pick-up that he repairs
himself while saluting traditional American values, soldiers and our flag.
The album is listenable without a single bad track. The
production is slick at times - would prefer a little more authentic flavor -
but this effort is obviously the result of a lot of corporate marketing
strategy sessions to launch a humble guy's career. It works.
Although 'Holler If You're With Me' received some promotion
back in February in a commercial on network TV and 'Power Of A Love Song'
sounds like a formula hit, the best work on the album is a tear jerking track
called 'Ordinary Angels'. It's about the good nature in people that just
somehow comes along at the right time, just when you need it.
It's clear Tate Stevens has the talent and the sound to
propel him into a career as a headliner and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
E
Music Review
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