Jesse Terry

Location: Nashville, TN
Sub-Genre: Alt. Country

Hear the Music




Review:

For the past few weeks i’ve lived in Nashville-land. Not the city itself, but the so called country music that represents it. It’s been a rough stay. I’ve got a grin plastered on my face that doesn’t at all represent my current emotional state and is making my face hurt, my teeth are dry, i’m speaking in trite cliches that make people think i’m developmentally slow, and my only topic of conversation seems to be “shallow love gone wrong” even though I currently have no reason to talk about that particular topic, nor is it at all relevant to the world at large right now. I feel stale, and cheesy, and pre-packaged… lowest-common-denominator-ish. It’s bad. I need to detox.

Needless to say i was a little apprehensive when i saw Jesse Terry had submitted to TuneJar. I was, and am, in no mood to listen to formulaic schlock. Fortunately, Jesse Terry gave me a soothing bath…ummmmm…that sounds wrong. After listening to Jesse though i feel like i’ve just been loofa’d, scrubbed clean of pop country filth, and suddenly have a renewed hope in what country can be, and should be, coming out of Nashville.

This is honestly some of the best country music i’ve heard in awhile. The three songs you’ll hear here are the epitome of showing diversity in style, pristine musicianship, and excellent songwriting while still staying true to country roots. “The Runner” sounds like The Eagles if they had originated about a 1000 miles east of Colorado, “Pray It’s not the Delta” is country through and through, and “Lay Your Hands On Me” brings soul into a music genre that often should be the most soulful but unfortunately isn’t. Jesse wraps all of this in a voice that is actually…well…good. That’s hard to come by in country music. There is no affectation in the southern lilt. It’s honest and effortless. Unlike the Chesney’s and Atkin’s of the country world, he doesn’t hide a bad voice with a ridiculous twangy delivery. This is real.

Here’ the thing that’s extremely telling and sad to me though. It may have been a necessity of the form he had to fill out, but you’ll notice Jess clarified his sub-genre as being Alt-Country. This stuff shouldn’t be the alternative, it should be the heart of the genre. The should BE the genre. Unfortunately it’s not. Hopefully Jess will change that.