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The Sins – New Artist Spotlight – CMA Close Up by Bob Doerschuk

The Sins

The Sins

The Sins

Listening to Muscadine on Go Time Records, you might bet Joe and Kristen Sins grew up together in some crossroads town deep in the Texas countryside. Not so: Both are Californians, though neither is city folk; Kristen grew up in Sonora, on the edge of Yosemite National Park, while Joe’s roots are in Twentynine Palms, close to another wonder of Western nature, the Mojave Desert.

 

Yet here they are, joined in marriage and music on one of the strongest duo debuts of recent years. Joe has a little grit and twang in his tenor, while Kristen stretches from honeyed intimacy to dramatic upper-register flights. This contrast adds depth to their harmonies without compromising their solo prowess. They wrote each track together too, reflecting their ability to convey emotion with a vivid, even urgent eloquence. And their arrangements are interesting: A unison passage on “One Stoplight Town” symbolizes the passion of their union. Elsewhere, on the title track, they glide between fourths and sixths, with grace or punch as the music requires.

 

With Kent Wells producing, Muscadine has a guitar-heavy sound, mixed tastefully to energize rather than clash with the vocals. This approach electrifies a story of young love on “Romeo and Juliet Sparks” and, even more impressively, the heartbreaking narrative of a woman surrendering her newborn son to another mother on “She Gave It All Up.” This is a classic Country story song, delivered with the finesse, empathy and feeling it deserves.

 

The SinsIN HER OWN WORDS

 

FAVORITE FOOD ON THE ROAD

 

KRISTEN: “Popeye’s Chicken.”

 

JOE: “Del Taco, when I can find it.”

 

DREAM DUET PARTNER

 

KRISTEN: “Kenny Rogers.”

 

JOE: “My wife – and I get to live the dream! Otherwise, I would choose George Strait.”

 

TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

 

KRISTEN: “Unstoppable.”

 

JOE: “It’s Been a Helluva Ride.

 

SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU

 

KRISTEN: “I love to play Mario video games.”

 

JOE: “Keep guessing!”

 

On the Web: www.TheSinsCountry.com

 

On Twitter: @TheSinsCountry

 

NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: The Sins Country

By Bob Doerschuk

© 2013 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

 


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JJ Lawhorn – CMA New Artist Spotlight

JJ Lawhorn

JJ LawhornJJ Lawhorn

Many artists draw from their background, but the music of 19-year-old JJ Lawhorn goes deeper, to embody the sights and sounds, aromas and soul, of rural America.

Raised on his family’s Virginia farm, he never dreamed of knocking on doors up and down Music Row. His plan was to study agriculture at Virginia Tech and devote his life to farming. Then, in the spring of 2010, producer Jeremy Stover came across a Lawhorn performance on YouTube. He tracked the young artist down; within a year, Lawhorn had signed with EMI Publishing and, in June 2011, to Average Joes Entertainment.

Produced by Stover and released on July 16, the 13 tracks of Original Good Ol’ Boy sound the way hay smells and the world looks from the bed of a pickup truck. Lawhorn wrote three of these songs alone and co-wrote the rest, investing each one with the kind of authenticity you can’t conjure in the studio. Some of this stems from his delivery: He drawls “count” as two syllables and nearly stretches “around” to three on his solo-written single “Stomping Grounds.”

JJ LawhornAnd his lyrics are extraordinarily evocative, often beginning with a snapshot-like picture: “Red clay mud caked up on the door” brings us close to the vehicle and its no-nonsense driver on “You Can Tell a Man by His Truck” (written by Lawhorn, Stover and Ben Hayslip).

Ultimately, it’s the whole package — the rough-edged music, the painterly words and Lawhorn’s conviction — that makes this a most auspicious debut.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

DREAM DUET PARTNER

“Alison Krauss or Chris Stapleton.”

SONG YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN

“‘Silver Wings,’ by Merle Haggard.”

TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The Road Less Traveled.

YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE

“The only challenge I have is to be all that I can be.”

LUCKY CHARM

“I don’t believe in luck. I believe in God’s plan for my life.”

On the Web: www.JJLawhornMusic.com

On Twitter: @JJLawhornMusic