Album Review – Theo Lawrence’s “Chérie”

It seems like it’s the bane of all the best music of this age to be placed at arm’s length from the people who would be most opportune to enjoy it. But it’s those that dig and search for something out of the ordinary to outright extraordinary that are often rewarded favorably for their efforts, and that is certainly the case for those who get their hands on the new album Chérie by country crooner Theo Lawrence.
Featuring 12 exquisitely-written original classic country songs, Chérie was recorded just outside of Austin, TX at the Fort Horton Studios by producer Billy Horton, best known recently for producing all of those great Charley Crockett albums. Similar to other Austin productions, steel guitarist Dave Biller is employed to steep new songs in the vintage sounds of country with exquisite results.
Listening through Chérie, you’re floored this isn’t some rediscovered recording from an ancient country crooner from back in 1962 whose acetates accidentally ended up being shelved in some warehouse and forgotten. Not just the styling, but the references in the lyricism are something set 60 years in the past, perhaps depreciating them to some modern audiences, but coming across as sweet music to the ears of classic country fans.
But that is not even the most confounding and unexpected aspect of these recordings. The man responsible for all of this country music greatness, Theo Lawrence, isn’t even indigenous to the United States. Theo and his band hail from Bordeaux, France. Aside from the little dash above the ‘e’ of the proper name that comprises the album title, you could be convinced that Mr. Lawrence and his band hailed from south Alabama, and were born in the mid 1930’s.

The sounds of this album are exquisite, bolstered by Billy Horton’s deeply experienced work with this kind of material. But the magic is completely born from the voice of Theo Lawrence, and the songs he has crafted to compliment it. The command and insight Lawrence brings to his songcraft is nothing short of astounding for any composer, especially one not from the United States. So often when it comes to European country artists, even when they get the words right, something is just a little “off,” like in the use of idiom.
In the case of Theo Lawrence, he dives into telling stories and presenting characters with surprising confidence and depth. It’s the specificity of the details found in the opening song “California Poppy” that make it work. “The Universe Is Winding Down” is a perfect example of the world-ending heartbreak only the best country songs convey. “Keechie & Bowie” is the classic story of a young couple on the run, and “Kitty Cat Clock” is a clinic on how to take a piece of kitsch, and create a country song around it.
This album is not just knowledgeable and respectful to the American perspective and experience, it is steeped in it. Perhaps it’s true when they say the best way to describe something is seeing it from the outside looking in. But Theo Lawrence also brings an acumen with language to pull it off so well. The insight from Theo Lawrence here is pretty incredible.
Though Chérie is mostly country, Lawrence also adds a dash of ’50s Sun Records-era rock n’ roll in the mix that is respectful to the era of the album, and helps expand its appeal to all throwback and vintage audiences. Rockabilly fans will also get a kick out of this album for sure.
The love of true country music knows no borders, and can speak to people universally, even across oceans, language and cultural barriers, and generations. You never know who will be possessed by the passion to carry the music forward into the future, or who will be graced with the undeniable talent to do it. What’s absolutely certain after a run through Chérie is that Theo Lawrence is blessed with both of these.
8.2/10
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Purchase from Bandcamp
June 30, 2023 @ 8:34 am
Well-done throwback style tunes! And videos.
June 30, 2023 @ 9:20 am
Very cool. This is why I hangout here. I see one of the only 2 copies for sale on vinyl in the US happens to be at my local record shop. Have to swing by and pick this one up.
On a side note- I had to change my screen name as it wouldnt let me write the numeral five anymore- threw and error saying thats not allowed. What happened?
June 30, 2023 @ 9:35 am
This is an interesting change. You speak a lot about ‘authenticity’ in country music. And i’m not denying its importance. But from what you have written in the past, you could get the mistaken impression that if you were not born and raised in a certain way, you’re automatically disqualified from playing good country music.
That is obviously not always the case, and the most important thing is honesty, quality instrumentation and quality songwriting.
June 30, 2023 @ 10:06 am
Authenticity is definitely important in country music, but it is not the only element to consider in whether something is good, or true to itself. The most important element to authenticity is being authentic to yourself. For years I’ve made a concerted effort to highlight country artists from other countries beyond the United States that for whatever reason find a deep connection with American country music, and often perform it with more passion, and sometimes, more authenticity than their American counterparts. I think Theo Lawrence is a perfect example of that.
June 30, 2023 @ 10:22 am
I got turned on to this guy after WDVX in Knoxville had put “California Poppy” in frequent rotation earlier this year. The sound was so perfectly 1950s, I had to check out more of his stuff. This entire album is amazing. I’m glad it’s getting some recognition here!
June 30, 2023 @ 10:24 am
If you just click play and listen, it sounds really, really good. But when you acknowledge what it is, you just feel disappointed. I equate this to a white kid from suburban America, moving to Harlem, and then imitating rappers and recording a Rap album. No matter how good the imitation is, it’s still an imitation.
This kid is Charley Crockett with a better voice. And I realize, that to a lot of people, that sounds like a compliment. It’s not.
June 30, 2023 @ 11:12 am
Do you feel the same about Wayne Hancock, or even Dwight Yoakam ? I think its pretty easy to see that Charley Crockett is a put-on, but with some of these guys it gets a bit murky.
June 30, 2023 @ 3:27 pm
RD,
First of all, if you’re the original RD and not the new one, you are my all-time favorite SCM commenter. I wish you’d tear it up on here like you used to.
There are different types of inauthentic behavior in Country Music. There’s fake accents, fake personas, fake music, and different combinations of those things.
In the mainstream, take a guy like Jon Pardi, for example. By all accounts, he grew up in a semi-rural, western environment, around western horse culture. So I don’t think his persona is fake. But he sings with fake Southern accent. I assume he does it because he subconsciously associates his music with the South, and by extension, his fanbase.
Then, you take an indie guy like Charley Crockett. His entire persona is a creation, from his clothes to the way he speaks onstage…not his accent necessarily, just the things he says; he presents himself like some dirt-poor, depression-era drifter. His music though, is a tribute. I think he genuinely loves the music he’s imitating, and that’s why he imitates it. But him loving it, doesn’t make it authentic. It’s authentic in that his heart is in it, even though it’s not an authentic representation of who he is, if that makes sense.
Then you take a guy like Dwight Yoakam. Dwight has as authentic a C(c)ountry Music bloodline as anybody. Granted, he lived in Columbus, Ohio for the latter part of his childhood, but he is authentically rural from a cultural perspective. I suppose he does add some twang to his voice, but I’ve never thought of him as being noticeably fake.
Then you have guys like Luke Bryan. Persona and accent are real as it gets, but the music isn’t country. He’s not even imitating anybody; he’s just a country boy performing non-country music.
Jake Owen is the inauthentic version of Luke Bryan. You could almost say Jake is pretending to be what Luke actually is: a country boy performing non-country music.
This French guy pretty clearly loves C(c)ountry Music, and I agree he sounds good. I just can’t get past the reality of who he is though. It’s a barrier for me.
June 30, 2023 @ 4:09 pm
Honk,
Thanks for the response. I appreciate your comments, as well. You know an awful lot about country music. I agree about there being differing types of inauthentic country music.
Perhaps I’m incorrect, but it was my understanding that Dwight Yoakam was in a punk band before they went cowpunk and eventually country. I knew that he spent a chunk of his youth in Ohio, but that really isn’t a limiting condition. Coe, Bobby Bare, Earl Thomas Conley, Johnny Paycheck, etc. are from Ohio. My major complaint was that his voice and origin weren’t really authentic. I actually love his music and was listening to it today.
I can’t name a song Jake Owen sings and I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. I have, unfortunately heard songs from Kermit the Kountry Singer, but I wish I could unhear them.
There is also Johnny Cash inauthenticity, where you pretend to be a hardened criminal and pander to the lowest common denominator, making them think you spent 10 years in solitary when your only arrest was for picking flowers on government land… Waylon used to laugh that he became big in country music while Buddy Holly was considered a pop/rock star. He said that Buddy Holly was ten times the hillbilly he ever was…
June 30, 2023 @ 4:13 pm
If Buddy Holly had lived, I bet he would have trended toward country. Many of those early pop/rock guys were thoroughly country at their roots and would have returned. Ronnie Van Zant was making his way back to country before he died.
June 30, 2023 @ 5:25 pm
I was a fan of Johnny Cash, growing up, and he didn’t “pretend to be a hardened criminal and pander to the lowest common denominator.”
If anything, he can be accused of hiding his mean side, the pill-popping and adultry, and mistreating of people, etc. They gave him his own network TV show and various TV specials and the personality that he conveyed on those programs was soft-spoken, polite and even courtly, and respectful of older artists and contemporaries–and polite to women.
Cash would host older legends like Hank Snow and Burl Ives and Louis Armstrong and show them nothing but admiration; or contemporaries like Marty Robbins and Waylon; or Charley Pride or Linda Rondstadt.
Yes, Cash got rowdy at Folsom Prison and San Quentin, but his record label bleeped out the cursing. Cash appeared with Billy Graham and was a national commercial spokesman for American Oil (later AMOCO) in an era before corporate America embraced thuggish people to sell its products.
June 30, 2023 @ 6:56 pm
Completely agree on Cash being a fraud. I’ve never cared for much of his music either. It bothers me that he gets placed so high on history’s list. Even that Ken Burns documentary was mostly a Johnny Cash biography.
June 30, 2023 @ 1:14 pm
Music is for enjoying not for analysing unless you are trying to be a clever dick failed miserably critic.
Enjoy it or leave it alone. You’ll be happier King Honky.
June 30, 2023 @ 2:17 pm
….”not for analysing”[sic]…
Cool man. I guess Trig should just shut this website down then. Definitely no more reviews.
June 30, 2023 @ 2:48 pm
My question was honest. I enjoy Wayne Hancock and I like this cat’s sound, as well, but I think you have to admit that their music is more than derivative. It’s almost an homage/tribute to the people that they were influenced by.
June 30, 2023 @ 3:34 pm
Yep, I knew you were being honest. I just wanted to take the time to give you an honest answer.
June 30, 2023 @ 5:07 pm
Rd,
Not trying to hijack your thread, but you hit upon my subject. As an Ohio guy I’m all about the Country music contributions from my state. Dwight. Good subject. Here’s some info, I can show you the house he grew up in and the lot where his dad owned a Texaco station where young Dwight worked. Dwight’s family of course came from Kentucky for jobs. There was a great Appalachian migration of which the Yoakams were a part of. To this day, Ohio has a huge population of southerners, hillbilly, rednecks and the like. They came up route 23 north to get from KY to Ohio and some went further into Detroit even, looking for work. See Dwights song Readin, Writin, Route 23…Dwight’s neighborhood was every bit urban but full of families with backgrounds like the Yoakams. Many folks in the area have to this day authentic southern accents. Ohio is full of them. There is a white hillbilly ghetto full of tatted up meth heads not far from there. Most of the contractors I work with have a very thick drawl and it comes honestly. So, this idea that Ohio ain’t country or not legit with Country cred is 100% bunk. In fact farming dominates a big area of the state. I live minutes away from numerous farms.
Dwight’s early band was a rockabilly band, not punk. Dwight was a fan of Country music from childhood. Later after dropping out of Ohio State he moved to LA and found Pete Anderson, the Palomino scene, and that’s where he was associated with cowpunk, though he was playing straight up honky- tonk.
Good job on your list of Ohio born Country artists. Add to that Connie Smith , Hawkshaw Hawkins, Leonard Sly, Darrell McCall, Sonny Curtis, Charley Justice, The Adam’s Brothers and others.
June 30, 2023 @ 5:37 pm
Thanks, Kevin. I really appreciate the information. Rural areas all over Appalachia, including Ohio, are legit. I lived in southern Ohio for several years. Cousins of mine grew up on a farm in Ravenna, its in northern Ohio, but still very rural. I still get back to hunt in southern Ohio once or twice a year.
June 30, 2023 @ 6:50 pm
Kevin and Others,
I think you all may have misunderstood me. I know Ohio is a mostly rural state. I wasn’t talking about the whole state, only the city of Columbus. It’s a major city, and Dwight spent a lot of his youth there. It’s his Kentucky roots that make him authentic. HIs parents were hillbillies.
June 30, 2023 @ 11:32 am
The Pink Stones new record came out today. It’s great. Check it out.
June 30, 2023 @ 1:42 pm
I am really enjoying this! I have learned through this site and other Ameripolitan based fan groups that Our European counterparts are putting out some really fantastic material. The Country Side of Harmonica Sam is from Sweden and Sarah Vista is from England. Country is a truly worldwide music and not just exclusive to our shores and that is what makes it so great! I love to hear about international artists doing this kind of stuff!
June 30, 2023 @ 2:39 pm
Sounds pretty good!
June 30, 2023 @ 4:38 pm
I heard this a few months ago.. still can’t get over that he’s a French dude. It’s solid work.
June 30, 2023 @ 4:45 pm
The authenticity debate is missing the forest for the trees, in my opinion. Sure, most country artists have traditionally came from certain areas of the United States, but with the internet and streaming services, it’s easier than ever to discover all sorts of music and for that music to inspire up and coming artists. If this guy or Charley Crockett or whoever else would rather make traditional country than other types of music, that speaks volumes about what’s in their hearts. Old school country isn’t the first genre people look to in 2023 to make a living and they certainly don’t lack the talent to make a living elsewhere. So give me a guy from France who probably knows Lefty Frizzell’s catalog front to back over the guy from Tennessee who doesn’t even know Lefty’s name, but can definitely tell you his top five Eminem albums.
As for Dwight Yoakam, he revealed his authentic self very early, namely on “Readin’, Rightin’, Rt. 23” from his second album. The song is thematically reminiscent of “Detroit City,” made famous by another Ohioan Bobby Bare. Both speak to the experience of country folks leaving their native environment for a chance of a better life in a large industrial city and finding it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Earl Thomas Conley, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Cowboy Copas, Roy Rogers, Connie Smith, the severely underrated bluegrass artist Dave Evans, and several of the most important members of George Jones’ band were from Ohio. So are artists today like Dallas Moore and Arlo McKinley, who are hundreds of times more “authentic” than someone like Luke Bryan. Outside of a couple of cities, Ohio is a lot more rural than many people seem to think.
As far as this album goes, this guy is damn good and I’ll definitely be adding the album to my rotation. Thank you Trigger for introducing me to another great artist.
June 30, 2023 @ 5:13 pm
Adam, you must have been typing that while I typed my comment. Looks like we both have the same take on Ohio. Hilarious.
June 30, 2023 @ 5:45 pm
You said it better than I could have, but I came by the take honestly. I’m sitting not five miles from the house Roy Rogers grew up in and I know where Earl Thomas Conley lived and worked. I’ve driven by the prison that once housed Paycheck, Coe and Dave Evans numerous times. (Evans’ son is now sheriff of a neighboring county, by the way.) I know the general area where Cowboy Copas grew up, but I hear that the spot isn’t the easiest to get to.
By the way, do you happen to know if the Adams brothers are any relation to the late rockabilly artist Billy Adams who recorded for Nau-Voo Records in West Portsmouth? I interviewed him once, but the topic didn’t come up.
June 30, 2023 @ 6:25 pm
No the Adam’s are not related to Rockabilly artist Billy Adam’s. I know that for a fact. I do love rockabilly however and used to write for a rockabilly magazine.
The Adam’s Brothers are an interesting story. I’ve gotten to know them and man do they have stories. Some should never be told.????
June 30, 2023 @ 5:48 pm
If I can accept a middle class, English, white, London School of Economics undergraduate singing American rhythm and blues in the 60s, I guess I can accept a French guy singing country music now.
Great stuff! I love retro country done right. I’ll be picking up a copy of the CD.
July 2, 2023 @ 5:48 am
Not sure what to think about this. Don’t really care where this guy comes from, but I kind of agree with King Honky on one point. This guy sounds pretty similar to the ever growing list of artists doing this 50s-60s type of country thing. It’s all kinda sounds like paint by numbers country to me. On the hand, this guy has a decent voice with no real noticeable accent that would make the music sound strange. Of the two songs posted here, California Poppy is a catchy song that is enjoyable enough, but the other one is nothing special.
I might dig into the rest of this album, or throw California Poppy into a playlist, but honestly not really expecting much beyond what is posted here.
July 2, 2023 @ 10:18 am
Saw this guy when he opened for Charley Crockett here in England last year, and I was impressed. His songs are strong and he has a genuine love for the music. As an Englishman, I quite naturally don’t share the grumbles some people have about ‘authenticity’; I have a love for the music and can accept that a Frenchman would too. It seems strange to me that if Theo Lawrence had the same life experiences he has had, but by some random quirk of fate had been born in Texas or Arkansas, those same country fans who dismiss him would accept him largely without question. Making something so arbitrary into the deciding factor on whether to give an artist any respect for their art is incredibly close-minded.
Trigger, if you’re interested in talented non-US country musicians, you might want to give Mike West’s ‘The Next Life’ album a spin. He’s a Liverpool-based singer-songwriter who I’ve seen open for both Nick Shoulders and Mike and the Moonpies over here in England. He also has a catchy non-album single called ‘Mothman’ and at his live shows plays an unreleased song called ‘How to Build a Guillotine’ which is really creative. He doesn’t look the part, so isn’t one for the ‘authenticity’ crowd, but I was seriously impressed by him.
July 2, 2023 @ 10:23 am
Thanks Mike, I’ll check out Mike West.
July 3, 2023 @ 11:13 pm
oh hell yeah, Mike West rocks. He has a cool podast too, and a facebook group called Rogue Country UK that’s about UK Americana and country artists. Check his stuff out for sure.
July 2, 2023 @ 2:14 pm
surely theres only good or bad music ? For instance Alice Cooper is nothing like his stage act when you see him in interviews and things and does his music sound less real because of it? Angus Young doesnt walk about in a school uniform when he isnt rocking with Acdc so if someone like Charley Crockett or Theo arent authentic and its an act does it matter that much? The music is real because they wrote it so that makes them far more authentic than say anything wed hear if we listened to mainstream radio. Theo sounds real to me and doesnt sound like charley crockett with a better voice to me as someone describes here , he has his own sound as does Charley.
July 3, 2023 @ 12:47 pm
Do you have to be authentic to be good. I would say no. Daniel Romano released “Come Cry WIth Me”, was he authentic? – no. Was it a great album of country music? Definitely – yes!
October 6, 2023 @ 12:08 pm
Well done Theo, this album is excellent! Definitely one for the “Essentials of 2023” list!