Frankie Ballard Discography of CDs

Frankie Ballard discography The self-titled freshman album by Frankie Ballard, the winner of Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in Michigan in 2008, is a scant eight tracks, a little over 27 minutes, and the safest bet Nashville could place on a new artist in an uncertain 21st century music biz. The Michael Knox-produced effort opens with one of its two preceding singles, "A Buncha Girls," co-written by Ballard with Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, and Rhett Atkins. It's also the set's strongest track, as it revs up big midwest guitar rock à la John Mellencamp, tempered by banjos and pedal steel, and extremely crisp snare and kick drums. It's a fist-pumping, good-time anthem. Come to think of it, most of this record is flavored the same way, subsequent tracks "Single Again" and "Place to Lay Your Head" follow suit; and the album's other early single, "Tell Me You Get Lonely," is a midtempo rocker with the same big guitars and a Hammond B-3 for ballast. Up front is Ballard's voice, young, strong, ringing out crystal clear. Here, too, the Mellencamp influence is undeniable in Ballard's phrasing -- and perhaps overwhelming. Knox and the studio band play this up to a near fault, because these songs, decent though they may be, don't reach his influence's level. And while his guitar playing is better than adequate, the sounds are so generic, it's tough to tell his style from the session's other slinger, Adam Shoenfeld. Ballard's debut doesn't have any inherently weak tracks, but it doesn't possess any extraordinarily strong ones, ...

Frankie Ballard songs Track Listing of songs: Buncha Girls;

Frankie Ballard CD discography Track Listing of songs: Tell Me You Get Lonely;

Frankie Ballard CD discography Colt Ford gets labeled country rap, and there's an undeniable logic to that, but he's really closer in tone, spirit, and approach to rhythmic spoken word country records like Hank Williams' Luke the Drifter series, dramatically narrated trucker narratives like "Convoy," or Charlie Daniels' mock-epic "The ...