Andy Griggs escaped a life stacking shelves at Sam's Wholesale Club with a hot debut album, YOU WON'T EVER BE LONELY, and with his follow-up FREEDOM consolidates a style that, while respecting the Nashville bottom line, frequently branches out into outlaw country. "Practice Life" is a wake-up call to couch potatoes everywhere, while "Custom Made" has no-brainer country hit written all over it. Griggs's one-two punch of traditional country and hard-edged rock & roll, blending high-class production values with gritty, amusing lyrics and raunchy musicianship, is a winning formula that harks back to the time before Nashville came to depend on consumer research for its hits.
Paradoxically, in its eschewing of blatant hit-seeking, FREEDOM sounds simultaneously more commercial and more original than most of Music City's recent output. Griggs's voice is classic country, and he's ably assisted by guests Martina McBride (who's been a co-conspirator ever since Griggs arrived in Nashville) and Tom Keifer. Songs like the "Blanket on the Ground"-like "Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man" ("all week I've been your husband/tonight I wanna be your man") fulfill the Nashville Prime Directive of big-time chick-appeal while avoiding the usual mawkishness of such efforts.
Recorded at Emerald Studios and Starstruck Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.
Personnel: Andy Griggs (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Martina McBride (vocals, background vocals); Dan Dugmore (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar, dobro); Kenny Vaughn, Brent Wilson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Charlie Cushman (acoustic guitar, banjo); Larry Byrom (acoustic guitar); Tom Keifer (electric guitar, background vocals); David Grissom, Michael Landau (electric guitar); C.J. Udeen, Robby Turner (steel guitar); Ron Block (banjo); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin); Jimmy Nichols (piano, keyboards, background vocals); David Roe (upright bass); Kenny Aronoff (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); David Lee Murphy, Lonnie Wilson, Neil Thrasher, Wes Hightower (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Derek Bason.
Recording information: Emerald Studios, Nashville, TN; Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Landau Studio, Los Angeles, CA; Sound Mountain, Nashville, TN; Starstruck, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Tony Baker.
Personnel: Andy Griggs (vocals, acoustic guitar); Dan Dugmore (acoustic, electric, slide & steel guitars, dobro, bass); Tom Keifer (electric guitar, background vocals); David Grissom, Brent Wilson, Michael Landau, Kenny Vaughn (electric guitar); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Ron Block, Charles Cushman (banjo); Jimmy Nichols (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Glenn Worf, Michael Rhodes (bass); Kenny Aronoff (drums); Martina McBride, David Lee Murphy, Lonnie Wilson, Melinda Norris, Neil Thrasher, Wes Hightower (background vocals).
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