Jamie Lynn Spears Surprises w/ “How Could I Want More”
The reason an artist like Jamie Lynn Spears should be dealt with in a speculative manner when she announces she wants to pursue a country music career is because from the beginning, it will be more about her name than the music. As much as we look at country music’s very top fashion plate stars as unfairly sitting atop a pedestal without the proper dues paid, when you actually delve into many of their personal stories, it is rarely the case. The recent death of Outlaw country artist Wayne Mills illustrated this when it came out that Blake Shelton opened for Wayne while making his way up the ranks. Even Taylor Swift spent years playing radio tours and doing acoustic shows at biker bars before her big break.
But with Jamie, her name allows her to circumvent all of these impleasantries and go right to the level of opening slots on theater and arena tours, and mainstream radio consideration. If you want to draw a parallel to another recent “gone country” celebrity artist, a good one would be Jessica Simpson who shot right ahead of everyone else in line to play headline shows and be showcased on the Grand Ole Opry. But as we all know, even the historically pliable and gullible mainstream country music fan didn’t bite on Simpson, and because she had never spent time cultivating a fan base, she had no level to fall back to. If she couldn’t be playing in front of thousands of people and buy fuel for 3 tour buses, her career wasn’t feasible on any level.
Jamie Lynn Spears had two major choices she could make with what direction to go in the country realm. She could be one of these bellicose, bawdy, hard-edged, lighting-matches-off-of-shotgun-barrels-to-burn-the-trailer-of-your ex-boyfriend-down type artists, or she could join the new generation of progressive country women writing their own songs and reintegrating substance into the country genre. From the sound of her first single—though I caution very heavily that this is just one song—from the looks of things at the moment, Jamie Lynn has chosen the latter.
There still is a very long way to go here, and much more to be revealed. I still remain speculative of the platinum blonde hair and where Jamie Lynn’s heart truly lies, and how easy it would be for her to make the first single one that allows her to slide past the guard of the country music gatekeepers only to later spring a big pop surprise. But I’ll be damned if her first single “How Could I Want More” is not bad at all.
There’s really not much to add to what most people are parroting about this song already: “Not great, but hey, better than most of what you hear on radio, and definitely unexpected.” And why not make good music, and the music you want if you’re a woman in country music right now? Unless you have huge tits or your first name is Taylor, the fat cat good ol’ boys who control country radio aren’t going to play it anyway, so you might as well make something you’re proud of.
“How Could I Want More” is very on par with the Ashley Monroes and Kacey Musgraves of the moment. Tasteful, story-based, touching music with sensible roots elements like lilting steel guitar embedded in a song with a universal theme. It’s also interesting that in the video, Jamie Lynn is seen writing and musing on lyrics, illustrating that she doesn’t want to be known as just an entertainer, but an artist.
This all speaks yet again to how women right now are leading the way in country music, and how there are reasons to be positive overall about country music’s direction. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody. So I’m not the only one who needs to pick up a fork and dig deep into that can of crow, and I do so with a grin because the fact that a former Nickelodeon star turned 16-year-old teen celebrity mom has started off her “gone country” career making music that has us all nodding our heads in approval speaks to how far we have come, however awful Luke Bryan’s next tailgate single is.
Good on Jamie. Let’s just hope this is a sign of things to come, and not a Trojan Horse.
1 1/2 of 2 guns up.
November 27, 2013 @ 4:23 pm
Carrie Underwood spent years playing at fairs across the country as a teenager and had a live recording of one of those called “Live In Little Rock”. Plus those two studio albums made for Capital that gave her the hand. So Carrie “paid” her dues as a little girl. There is no ” rule book” about paying your dues BS. Martina McBride didn’t pay her dues yet no one whined about it. And Carrie can vocally sing circles around her and still gets hate from a bunch of jealous people.
November 27, 2013 @ 4:58 pm
Didn’t know the dues paying of Carrie Underwood was in question here but I think it goes to illustrate the point that many of country’s big stars did put their time in at least to some extent.
November 27, 2013 @ 7:13 pm
Carrie Underwood catches it because she was associated with American Idol. She went in as a normal, mildly attractive girl and came out an over-hyped, glammed up Country pop princess backed by tons of money and an impossibility of failure. That probably caused a tad bit of jealousy from some artists.
I don’t think a couple years on any circuit compares to lifetimes some artists spend trying to make a living. Most artists spend upwards of 10+ years before making it big and that’s for any genre.
November 28, 2013 @ 8:17 am
Underwood is perfect for this time in history. She became famous without ever working for or earning her place. We have a president who has the same story. Both television creations with big bucks behind them. People work for years to hold these positions but not these two. Both are quite unpleasant.
November 29, 2013 @ 6:22 am
I’m sure Carrie apologizes for being successful. I’m sure if given her chance again, after winning American Idol she would have said no thanks and resumed her studies in pursuit of becoming a journalist, solely to satisfy bigots who believe that rotating through smelly pubs, playing for intoxicated creepy old farts is prerequisite for a career in music.
We’ve left the 1960’s, there’s now different avenues for artists to be discovered. As Justin Timberlake once said, cry me a river. Idol isn’t a success guarantee. Only two past winners have had profound success, Underwood and Clarkson. If you want longevity you need to put in the hours. To suggest Carrie hasn’t worked to be where she is today is the type of logic reserved for those annoying stuck-in-the-60’s traditionalists. Luckily for all, this small, ignorant pocket of society is slowly wasting away.
As a departing note, despite the career presented to her following the Idol win, Carrie felt it was important to finish the last 6 months of her University degree. Just a small incite to her work ethic.
November 27, 2013 @ 8:07 pm
Are you going to watch her in SOM?
November 27, 2013 @ 8:09 pm
@ Chris are you going to watch her in SOM?’
November 28, 2013 @ 8:13 am
Are you kidding with this? Carrie is no Martina. There is nothing original or creative about Underwood. She knows nothing about subtlety, she only knows being loud. She is a television creation, not worthy to be mentioned in the same sentence with Martina.
November 30, 2013 @ 1:56 am
Anyone can say anything about Carrie, however one simple undeniable fact remains, she simply has one of the best voices in all of music not just country. Regardless of where she came from she is just freaking talented, great talent always finds its way to the top. We should be thankful that anyone let alone idol found her, the girl could sing the phonebook, seriously. Just be glad she is in the music business and we all get to enjoy her. For further proof… I beg you to listen to her duet with Vince Gill on How Great Thou Art, that performance is literally one of the best performances ever. She has sang that song prior and somehow she found a whole new level that night, wow. And just for good measure go listen to I Told You So and then try to tell anyone that girl is not amazing.
November 27, 2013 @ 4:27 pm
She worked with Liz Rose! So I’m optimist that her album won’t be that bad.
November 27, 2013 @ 4:42 pm
This is a good song. It is definitely far better than the vast majority of the current country hits.
I continue to be impressed by the quality of the songs that the women of country music are putting out. It’s a shame that radio keeps ignoring them. At what point will radio audiences reach a breaking point and start demanding more gender diversity on country radio?
I also want to add that this is a well-written review and serves as a great example of what can happen when a new artist is given a chance. It’s much better than the pie-throwing fest that transpired on this site a few days ago.
November 27, 2013 @ 5:59 pm
Not bad, at all…good for her!
November 27, 2013 @ 6:13 pm
Hey, that was pretty good! I definitely hope she keeps up with this.
November 27, 2013 @ 6:29 pm
Pleasant and kinda catchy. 🙂
November 27, 2013 @ 6:37 pm
Does she usually have a southern accent?
November 27, 2013 @ 7:49 pm
I haven’t heard her speak in a long time but she’s from Louisiana so it’s possible.
November 27, 2013 @ 7:03 pm
No. Just No.
November 27, 2013 @ 7:08 pm
“reintegrating substance into the country genre” – I like that. I can probably throw that in every story on this blog as either needs to or accomplished.
Song is ok. It is better than what you’d expect, I’ll grant her that. I generally don’t get wowed on the girl singers. Not that there bad or any less talented than the men, its just they fall into two stale categories – the “I’m tough and a mean bxtch” or the same old tire love songs one after another. Allison Krauss usually blows me away, though.
November 27, 2013 @ 7:11 pm
Well, the men in mainstream country have basically all joined the frat-boy bro country trend this year. I would say that they have been way more stale than the female singers.
November 27, 2013 @ 9:25 pm
Yeah, tough to argue. Mainstream for sure.
November 27, 2013 @ 7:25 pm
Pretty good actually, I even like her southern twang. Someone asked if she had an southern accent, well she is from southern MS so yeah probably. Very nice country sound and not a bad song either, just hope she stays true to her debut.
November 27, 2013 @ 8:11 pm
That’s pretty good. She has pretty vocals.
November 27, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Like everyone else, I was surprised by the quality in this song. I’m suspending my judgment because I feel the money behind this project knew that if they introduced Ms. spears with a pop song, she would have no credibility amongst the country audience. They played this debut song safe. But we all know corporate money will eventually go after the pop demographic, so it will be interesting to see if she can resist.
November 27, 2013 @ 11:09 pm
Her handlers are smart to work with Liz Rose she is a proven hit maker. Nashville usually goes with what worked commercially before. Shania Twain sold millions of albums after sexing up her image, so they ran the same playbook with Faith Hill. And Faith sold millions of records, so they also marketed Carrie Underwood as the all-American girl. No surprise here.
And don’t forget the skeptical country music fans who were temporarily won over by sweet little Taylor Swift when she recorded “Teardrops on My Guitar” in 2007 (yours truly not included – I always thought she would go the pop route).
November 28, 2013 @ 2:24 am
This is a different era in country music. In the mid to late 90s, most of the top country stars were actually female (Martina, Reba, Trisha, Pam Tillis, etc.). Shania and Faith were therefore stepping onto fertile ground.
In the middle part of last decade when Carrie and Taylor entered, country also had a significant number of top female performers. Moreover, pop country at that time was very much oriented toward suburban women, and Carrie and Taylor fit in very well into that trend.
Right now, however, the country charts are completely male-dominated. There have been weeks over this year when every single one of the top 10 country hits was from a male singer. The bro country party theme is completely dominant. Jamie Lynn Spears seems to be going against the grain with this song, which suggests to me that she has a strong affinity for traditional country music.
Let’s just give her a chance. We can judge more fully when her album comes out.
November 28, 2013 @ 4:47 am
Can’t wait for the album, woah!!
November 28, 2013 @ 6:52 am
I would say this is worthy of 1.5 guns up. As skeptical as everyone else towards this, I think it’s pretty darn good. Kinda anxious to hear more from her.
November 28, 2013 @ 10:21 am
I’m shocked that this is actually a pretty good song. The steel guitar arrangement in this is fantastic, and it sucks that you can’t hear steel in modern country anymore. I’d love to see this do well just for that steel line.
November 28, 2013 @ 12:06 pm
There is more country instrumentation on this song than I would have expected from Jamie Lynn. So I am somewhat surprised. I think the big question is, will there be a pop remix of the song in a few months?
I think this song is a smart move, clearly she and her label have learned from the mistakes of others such as Jessica Simpson and Julianne Hough. There have been very few romantic ballads by solo female country artists in recent years (and no, I’m not counting Taylor’s songs about teenage crushes and breakups). So there are probably a lot of country radio listeners who have been wanting to hear this type of song.
The title and subject of the song reminds me of Sara Evans’ “I Could Not Ask For More”, which was criticized by traditionalists for being too pop when it was released to country radio around 2000. The genre has changed so much that I doubt anyone would complain about it being “top pop” if it were played on country stations today.
November 28, 2013 @ 4:43 pm
That was better than i expected…
November 28, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
“Good on Jamie. Let”™s just hope this is a sign of things to come, and not a Trojan Horse.”
It’s a good thang ta remember that folks often put out a “country” album ta start off, an then they go off on whatever tangent with the next one. Some don’t even try. As with her, she caught me off guard. I was impressed with how good it all sounds. I do hope this ain’t jes the one song, an if the album sounds this good that it’s not the only good one she puts out. I allers think back ta Heather Myles’ song Nashville’s Gone Hollywood, where it says, “If you’re young and sexy, you’ll be rollin’ in the dough. Sell a million records, so that must mean you’re good.” I’ll be optimistic about this fer now. I really hope she kin help tip the scale with all the other women, an maybe get us back ta better music
November 28, 2013 @ 8:08 pm
I am wondering if she had anything to do with writing/co writing this song??
November 28, 2013 @ 8:23 pm
I have been looking everywhere for info on the writing credits on this song, and haven’t found them yet. My guess is this info will come out in due course. My gut tells me that Jamie at least helped because shots of her writing are in the video. As some others have said, Liz Rose has been working with her as well. She is really good at taking songs others have written and bringing them to that next level. As far as the common names of Nashville songwriters, I have respect for Liz Rose more than most. If for no other reason than she’s responsible for Caitlin Rose.
November 28, 2013 @ 9:01 pm
Yeah the lyrics in the song and the fact she just recently got engaged, I had the feeling she was involved in the writing of this song as well.
November 28, 2013 @ 10:46 pm
“she”™s responsible for Caitlin Rose”
LOL! That’s a very amusing way of putting it.
December 2, 2013 @ 10:39 am
She co-wrote it with Rivers Rutherford.
November 29, 2013 @ 9:18 am
I expected her to sound more like her sister though glad she don’t.
November 29, 2013 @ 9:29 am
I like pecan and pumpkin pie fests.
‘Looks are everything’. Jamie Lynn is far more refined than her sister….voice and lookswise. She can actually sing.
November 29, 2013 @ 1:02 pm
This is a very nice song and she did a good job singing it rather soulfully.
I have a hard time looking to Nashville, as opposed to Austin or Muscle Shoals, for good music.
I also have a hard time getting past the fact that Jamie Lynn has similar DNA tand the same last name of someone I regard as the antithesis of authentic music of any sort.
November 29, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
Isn’t this more of a positive for the country music genre as a whole if this is the single the label put out?
I mean, with her name, you’re going to get attention. And this song is completely opposite of what labels are putting out trying to target teenagers.
November 30, 2013 @ 7:08 am
She is NOT amazing. She is just loud. Void of any emotion, mechanical, did I say loud. As for “How Great Thou Art” you can find those sort of vocals in churches across the US on any given Sunday. Nothing original, no creativity, wooden, bombastic.
November 30, 2013 @ 12:42 pm
Tim, it would be hard for Jamie Lynn to compete with Taylor Swift in the teen pop category for the next couple of years. Her label probably knows that. Several other girls saw their careers fall flat when they tried to attract teen fans in the past few years. So young female artists need to market themselves differently, for example like Kacey Musgraves is doing, in order to break into the mainstream at this time. If there had been no Taylor Swift, Jamie Lynn might be singing a different tune.
This first single also neutralizes Jamie Lynn’s perceived weaknesses. The country instrumentation addresses the perception that she is not country. The lyrics, which portray her in a loving relationship, are a counterpoint to the perception that she is a troubled teenage mom and celebrity kid gone bad. She already has name recognition. I think this single is intended to make her “acceptable” to country radio audiences.
December 1, 2013 @ 2:58 pm
Can anybody figure out what label she’s signed to? I can’t find it out anywhere.
December 2, 2013 @ 10:47 am
Sweet Jamie Music, Inc., which is why this isn’t big label pop, at least not yet.
http://www.directlyrics.com/new-music-jamie-lynn-spears-how-could-i-want-more-news.html
December 2, 2013 @ 4:40 pm
Thanks for the info on the writers and label. But I wonder if this is Jamie’s publishing company under BMI or ASCAP instead of the actual label. Either way it’s encouraging to see Jamie had a hand in this as a songwriter.
December 3, 2013 @ 8:55 am
Sweet Jamie Music is on the iTunes song and I don’t see another label for her anywhere. No doubt she’s getting a lot of help and sales boost from her sister. Britney has 35 million followers on twitter and 34 million likes on facebook so when she posts about it that’s big promotion.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152057470368234&set=a.79096253233.80143.39677118233&type=1
December 2, 2013 @ 10:36 am
Not bad and more country than I expected. It’s funny to see a newbie from a pop star family schooling the boys on how country is done right.
December 4, 2013 @ 7:30 am
Taking my daughter to see her tomorrow night. Here is the write up on the Eddie’s Attic (best room in Atlanta area!!) I’ll let you know what I hear. Scepticly curious. .
100 songs?
At 22 year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is already a seasoned entertainment veteran. After five years focused on raising her daughter, Maddie, the Kentwood, LA native is back in the spotlight with a sound and style that truly captures her Southern roots.
Her official music debut comes in the form of country ballad “How Could I Want More.” The intensely personal lyrics mixed with a simple song production portrays Jamie Lynn as wise beyond her 22 years.
“How Could I Want More” was written by Spears along with Nashville songwriter Rivers Rutherford, who has also collaborated with Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Montgomery Gentry.
Jamie Lynn”™s experiences with Rivers and other Nashville writers, including Chris Tompkins, Liz Rose, Lisa Carver and Luke Laird, made for a master class in songwriting. Jamie Lynn learned about how to bring her stories to life through music and became a part of a community that helped her figure out the kind of artist she wanted to be. The experiences paid off ”“ Jamie Lynn now has over 100 songs in her catalog.
Her first single already has critical acclaim and cultural heat. It was named a Taste of CountryCritic”™s Pick and her journey has been covered by such outlets as E!, Entertainment Tonight, BuzzFeed, MTV, CMT and more!
A full album is imminent and Jamie Lynn credits her producer, Corey Crowder, for helping her define her sound. “He is a huge influence, and mainly responsible for making my music sound like “me”- he really just got me,” says Spears. “It took me years to figure out my sound, and to have confidence in knowing what I wanted.”
Choosing “How Could I Want More” as her first single was not an easy decision, but she feels that it is the right one because of the help and support of her team.
“Keeping it honest is something that will always fall on me. I need to make choices I believe in, so I don”™t lose that relationship with my fans ”“ they are the ones I want to stay connected to through my music.” says Spears
January 2, 2014 @ 2:58 pm
I’m the first one to admit when I’m wrong and I might be wrong for dismissing this song without listening to it.
I’m obsessed with the new Ronnie Dunn song he posted on SoundCloud, “Grown Damn Man.” I keep going to the site and listening to it – I got to figure out how to copy files from SoundCloud. The song finished before I could he repeat and I found myself listening and enjoying the next song that was randomly chosen for me. You guessed it – “How Could I Want More.”
I’m not going to buy the album (yet) but I’ll admit (for now) that I liked the song.