Album Review – Bryce Leatherwood (Self-Titled)
#510 (Traditional Country), #510.8 (Neotraditonal Country) with some #530.2 (Country Pop) on the Country DDS.
Everywhere you turn these days, it seems there’s a new country traditionalist crooning out killer music you can immediately warm up to, and with a cut to their jib that assures you this isn’t some interloper or carpetbagger looking to exploit country’s popularity. They were born and raised on this stuff. And just as often as not, they’re even signed to a major label.
Bryce Leatherwood from Woodstock, Georgia checks all of those boxes. He looks and sounds the part, but be assured this is no act. Raised on the country coming out of the speakers of his grandad’s farm truck like George Jones, Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty, he’s committed to making country music that sounds like it always has.
Though this is Bryce Leatherwood’s debut album, he’s not exactly a stranger. In 2022, he was the winner of The Voice. In past eras, this might have sullied your street cred with the independent country crowd. These days, it’s just sort of a talking point, especially since such things don’t really assure stardom. After all, fellow traditionalist Jake Worthington started in that world, and it took him a decade to emerge.
Meanwhile, there’s country guys you’ve never heard of with songs that have 70 million stream on Spotify from breaking out on Tik-Tok. Bryce Leatherwood can barely make 700,000. If nothing else, winning The Voice means as a singer, you’ve been put through the paces and had to prove your talent. Bryce Leatherwood certainly has done that, and his voice is definitely a stellar vehicle for delivering country music.
Bryce Leatherwood might have “The Voice,” but does he have “The Songs”? That answer is a little more cloudy. There’s some really good traditional country songs on this release, and then there’s some stuff that sounds like radio country put to a more traditional sound. There’s even a few songs that sound more contemporary entirely. Will Bundy’s production isn’t exactly the hot ’90s country sound. It’s more early 2000s traditional country. Think Randall King as opposed to Zach Top.
The song “In Lieu of Flowers” is a great way to start the album off, and songs like “What If She Does,” “Shenandoah,” and the smart turn of “The One My Daddy Found” keep you entertained throughout. “Cheap Cologne” is another good song, but some might recognize it from William Michael Morgan’s catalog. “The Finger” is quite clever too, unless you’re a Chuck Mead fan, and heard him do it first in 2009.
Similar to Riley Green, the sound is certainly country, but there’s some obvious recycling of songs and themes. “Where The Bar Is” tries a little too hard to be cool until it starts edging toward Bro-Country in the list-style lyricism. Same goes for “God Made,” which even includes a quick machine beat breakdown. Sure, not everyone can be Cody Johnson and command the best songs in traditional country, but it’s becoming a common theme where the sound is right, but the songs could use some work.
The traditional country resurgence is real, and so is Bryce Leatherwood. This is only his debut album and a starting point, and a pretty good one at that. He co-wrote three of the songs, and if he really wants to evoke memories of greats like Merle Haggard, he might have to find some inspiration from Merle and write some songs himself. But the voice and the sound are definitely there for Bryce Leatherwood, and the timing couldn’t be better for him to break out.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7/10)
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Purchase/Stream Bryce Leatherwood
May 16, 2025 @ 7:54 am
Definitely not my kind of country, but that not only beats the pants off of most of those guys doing the same style and someone should send Shooter this album because that is how product production should be done! That is so incredibly lively.
May 16, 2025 @ 10:48 am
same, beats the crap out of country radio but at the same time it sounds like radio material.
May 16, 2025 @ 11:04 am
…you’ve got to love a young cowboy, who brings a little french and flowers into a conversation. the list of remarkable mainstream talents, who shamelessly satisfy ol’ 90s longing keeps getting longer. great news.
May 16, 2025 @ 10:21 pm
Check out Shelby Lee Lowe if you like this kind of traditional, too.
May 17, 2025 @ 3:38 am
…thanks a lot for the tip, stellar. once more it goes to show, what a whealth of talent there currently is out there – in all departments. we’ve been going from saving country music to almost save me from country music. what more can ask for as fan.
May 17, 2025 @ 10:45 am
I’m so glad to hear you liked that suggestion. Shelby Lee Lowe sits right at that intersection of classic merle haggard type 70’s stuff and all the 90’s neotraditional, but doesn’t sound like he’s trying to just copy the 90’s version outright. Will Bannister (?spelling?), Randall King, and many female artists also do traditional country this way.
There are a bunch of names and loose categories in my (now outdated by 9 months) big list of independent country artists here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4rYG4AWUW0zIp_vuEugfXC2TPU9jal0e4CL17C-p68/edit?usp=sharing
Also if you like the older sounds, check out the entire Ameripolitan ‘genre’- it’s the stuff that leans towards the 1950’s a little more but includes quite a few interesting retro sounds. So many great artists.
May 18, 2025 @ 6:49 pm
Another great recommendation is Jade Eagleson. He’s great. Check out his “Do It Anyway” album, and his recent singles “Worth the Double” and “Welcome to Rock Bottom”. “Welcome to Rock Bottom” is an awesome song. He also recently turned “Do It Anyway” into a duet with Jake Worthington and the result is 90’s country goodness.
May 16, 2025 @ 11:04 am
Bundy also produces Ella Langley, whom you’re “meh” about, and Graham Barham, whose new single you tore to shreds recently. His writing credits are all over the map. Versatile guy, obviously, but he knows how to play Nashville’s game, so this is probably as traditional-sounding a record as you’re ever going to get from Leatherwood.
May 16, 2025 @ 1:09 pm
It seems ok, nothing im really ready to add to my playlist. Might check out the whole album but his voice just seems a little too polished for my taste. But i wish him well.
May 17, 2025 @ 6:41 am
I like this, though it’s probably sounds more like what I was listening to 10 years ago than now. But I think it’s a step in the right direction that this is being released on a mainstream label and promoted as a recommended release by streaming sites. I still believe that Neo-Traditional Country that is both true to the roots of the genre, and accessible to the average radio listener is the right direction for country radio. Hope Leatherwood follows Cody Johnson and Zach Top in making that happen.
May 17, 2025 @ 8:55 am
Check the new Dan Lepien album, The Honky Tonk Traditional.
A very solid set of proper Country songs.
Nice vocals too, somewhere along the lines of Weldon Henson and Randall King.
May 17, 2025 @ 10:47 am
I was really psyched to hear taht Weldon HEnson is back with new material. It seemed like he disappeared for a while, or at least wasn’t releasing new records. That’s another great one.
May 17, 2025 @ 1:23 pm
Indeed and I can tell you that the new Weldon is a fantastic album, every song a winner!
May 20, 2025 @ 5:41 am
Good stuff, thanks.
May 17, 2025 @ 10:50 am
Speaking of shows like The Voice and Americas Got Talent, what’s been happening with Drake Millligan lately ? He seemed like he was on the up and up for a minute and he seems right for this neotraditional moment. I know it takes more than talent (ie a touring band, lots of luck and hard work, ridiculous social media attention, etc) to break through but he seems like he should be having a serious career doing this kinda neotraditional thing at this point.
May 17, 2025 @ 2:55 pm
I really liked this guy back on The Voice and have been excited for this album. A bit mixed, but there’s hope. “What if She Does” is particularly good. Overall, more traditionalists cutting albums is better than not.
May 17, 2025 @ 11:04 pm
Let’s just say it: Bryce Leatherwood’s debut wipes the floor with Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem.” One’s a tight, focused country album from a guy who actually respects the genre. The other is a 37-track ego dump padded with filler, trap beats, and TikTok bait.
But sure, let’s keep pretending Wallen is the savior of country music while ignoring the guy who actually sings like George Jones instead of mumbling like a half-drunk frat bro over a looped snare. Bryce shows up with real songs, real vocals, and no circus act—and somehow that makes him less visible?
We get it. Chaos sells. Gimmicks stream. But Bryce Leatherwood put out an album that actually sounds like country without having to light himself on fire for attention. Maybe if he threw in an Auto-Tuned apology tour and 25 mid songs, people would care.
May 17, 2025 @ 11:16 pm
The whole reason I posted a review for Bryce Friday morning, and not Morgan Wallen.
May 19, 2025 @ 7:35 pm
Amen to that dude!
May 19, 2025 @ 7:36 pm
My reply was to Pappsy.
May 19, 2025 @ 12:09 pm
Meh is all I can say about this album. If this had come out in the early ’90’s, it wouldn’t even be worthy of a review. It kind of reminds me of Easton Corbin. Seems like a lot of potential, but will probably never get beyond bland. Kind of like the musical equivalent of beige. Neither good or bad, but certainly not memorable.
“In Lieu of Flowers” is the best song. But, am I the only one that thinks it’s the generic version of “Prop Me Up” by Diffie? Sure, i’ll tap my toe to it, but then go listen to the brand name.
May 19, 2025 @ 7:33 pm
Sounds wonderful,I loved it. At least it sounds like country music and not pop music. His voice is great,I loved it the first time he sang a song on The Voice. I knew then he was gonna win and one day we would hear him on the radio. You go Bryce Leatherwood,I will definitely buy your CD.