Just received an advance copy of Maggie Rose’s debut album on RPM Entertainment entitled ‘Cut To Impress‘ produced by Blake Chancey, Stephony Smith, and James Stroud. The most recent single “I Ain’t Your Mama” (a playful, mid-tempo, female anthem) was released earlier this year to country radio and had some success by landing in the top 30. I had hoped it would climb higher for this extremely-talented artist whose career I have followed since she went by Margaret Durante about a year and a half ago when she underwent a bit of an image revamp taking her from the blondish/brown longhaired “girl next door” to the short, playful platinum blonde bombshell image of the “girl next door” gone slightly bad (although, just between you and I, she’s not really bad at all, but a real sweetheart) and all grown up. Just a fun image revamp to relaunch her as an artist; showing some growth and branding as an artist. Yes, I said branding because as an artist they are also a brand.
My favorite cuts from this 10-track album are: “Better”, which is set to become the next single. This powerful ballad is relatable on so many levels for anyone struggling with their life and is beautifully sung by Maggie giving me goosebumps a couple of times during the course of the song. “Put Yourself In My Blues” is a ballad and another favorite just oozing with a traditional country/blues-infused sound, which seems to be a staple of Maggie Rose. I, also, love the playfulness of the uptempo song “Fall Madly In Love With You”.
Overall, this album is a great listen filled with deep, and sometimes dark, lyrics and soulful vocals. Thank goodness Maggie steps outside the box of what way too many songwriters are writing about these days and she demonstrates that throughout the album with several co-writes. Must every song on country radio talk about dirt roads, tractors, and beer today to be considered country? Ok, not all of them, but a vast majority of what’s heard on the radio today has some mention of one of those 3 aforementioned topics that are just a little too cliche for my taste.
Maggie is a powerful singer whose vocals are dripping with a bluesy-rasp and emotion. She demonstrates tremendous control and skill in her vocal range throughout all of her songs making it seem effortless when she does build to a powerful moment. She is one to watch in 2013 as she releases her debut album on March 26th and I hope that country radio really embraces her music. Seems that all too often female artists on country radio have to be twice as good as their male counterparts to achieve success these days. Well, she IS that good and an artist that you need to get to know if you haven’t already.
Rated 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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