The Log Jam at MCA Nashville Is Finally Breaking
One of the biggest questions coming off of Music Row at the end of 2015 was what the hell was going on at MCA Nashville. Artists on the roster not named Sam Hunt seemed to be in perpetual limbo and lost in time when it came to new music and new albums. Gary Allan, Josh Turner, Clare Dunn, and David Nail appeared to have their careers put indefinitely on hold, and the recent albums from Kip Moore and Vince Gill took forever to make it to market.
Well perhaps all the bellyaching by fans and the sabre rattling by certain media outlets finally helped shake the MCA Nashville log jam loose, and all of a sudden the label has become downright prolific.
READ: MCA Nashville Replacing Curb Records as the Scourge of Music Row
It started when long-time MCA Nashville artist Gary Allan switched to EMI Nashville. Though this left Gary officially with the same parent record label in Universal Music, it meant he might have new latitude after his 2015 single “Hangover Tonight” failed at radio and left his career and upcoming music up in the air. EMI Nashville has wasted no time in getting new music from Gary Allan ready, and a new single called “Do You Wish It Was Me” has been shipped to radio for a June 13th release.
Josh Turner also had a single that under-performed for MCA Nashville called “Lay Low” released in September of 2014. Since then, nothing new had emerged from the Turner camp until a new single called “Hometown Girl” was released on May 13th. The song may be nothing to write home about, but for Josh Turner fans it’s a positive sign that hopefully a new album is not far behind.
David Nail is another MCA Nashville artist whose career seemed to be stuck in limbo, and on Friday (5-20) new music emerged from the Missouri native as well. Nail announced a surprise five-song EP called Uncovered consisting of four cover songs and an acoustic version of a previous song, and chased it with the details of a new, full-blown album called Fighter that will be released on July 15th, 2016.
The only female on the MCA Nashville roster is also pushing new music finally, though it might have been better kept bottled up. Clare Dunn’s single “Tuxedo” is working its way to country radio, and likely grating on the nerves of country music’s more traditionally-leaning listeners. But once again it shows movement from a MCA Nashville artist where there hadn’t been much previously.
Whether fan pressure has put the MCA Nashville staff into hyper-drive, or it was their master plan to have a big spring the entire time, stuff is finally starting to churn at the label. And whether you’re a fan of what they’re churning out or not, it’s a better alternative than hamstringing artists and putting careers on hold either partially or fully due to the performance of singles the artists probably didn’t want to release in the first place. For now, MCA Nashville has reversed course, and hopefully its artists will be better off for it.
May 24, 2016 @ 9:02 am
Too bad the new Gary Allan, Josh Turner and Clare Dunn singles all underwhelm! Allan’s new single panders to electronic production and I’m astonished as to how poor its writing is! =(
The issues surrounding the quality of their material in the present still very much remain. But at least they are being able to provide new music
May 24, 2016 @ 9:09 am
I was hoping the new Gary Allan song was the “Do You Wish It Was Me” that Jason Aldean cut on Relentless…
I’m hoping “Night’s on Fire” is the only track of its kind on Fighter, much like “Whatever She’s Got” was the only track of its kind on I’m a Fire. Nail’s incredible vocals made both songs tolerable but he’ll always shine brightest while singing about darker topics. The title track to Fighter has been floating around for awhile, live versions anyway, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. Hopefully the rest of the album is like that.
I’m excited to hear more material from Josh Turner. While I can’t stomach some of the gospel songs he releases (they always overload on cheesiness–I wish he’d choose less straightforward tunes like “Long Black Train” more often), his albums are so refreshing to hear from such a skilled vocalist. 9 out of 10 times an artist with Josh Turner’s voice decides to record nonsense.
I find Clare Dunn tolerable in that she actually does what she does well. Her instrumental arrangements seem much less clumsy and half-hearted. I do wish she’d lean more traditional, though.
May 24, 2016 @ 9:24 am
“I’m a Fire” wasn’t nearly as good as “The Sound of a Million Dreams” and was hardly a country album, but it was definitely still enjoyable for what it mostly was: an Adult Top 40-sounding album.
I thought the title track, “Brand New Day” and “Burnin’ Bed” were all solidly written and, though overproduced, “Galveston” is a solid track regardless of who’s covering it. “Kiss You Tonight” hit a soft spot with me because it reminded me of Gin Blossoms (somewhere between “Until I Fall Away” and “As Long As It Matters”), while “Countin’ Cars” and “Broke My Heart” have nothing special to their writing but still sound pleasant listening to in that they reminded me of the Triple A radio I grew up on.
If “Fighter” is anything like “I’m a Fire” at least, I’ll be satisfied. But I am hoping it is more country along the lines of “The Sound of a Million Dreams” too.
May 24, 2016 @ 9:31 am
I hear a lot of Gin Blossoms in David Nail’s sound, in general, but I admit I’ve never found him to be all that country sounding save for a song here and there. The quality of the music removes the genre worry from my mind. I like every song on I’m a Fire except the one with Little Big Town, who I can’t stand. As for other 90s Alternative influences in his sound, I would have sworn it was Eagle Eye Cherry doing backing vocals on the chorus of “I’m a Fire.”
May 24, 2016 @ 9:37 am
I think ‘I’m a Fire’ was stronger than ‘The Sound of a Million Dreams’. While the latter had amazing tracks such as the title track or Half Mile Hill, it was weighted down by generic stuff such as Grandpa’s Farm or She Rides Away.
‘I’m a Fire’ works perfectly as a pop album, balancing enjoyable summer songs such as Broke My Heart or Easy Love and dark material like Burnin Bed and The Secret. Brand New Day is a gem of a country song. I’d say that there’s more variety on I’m a Fire and the album as a whole feels a little more satisfying than The Sound of a Million Dreams.
May 25, 2016 @ 1:05 am
Counting cars was a very well written and crafted song
June 15, 2016 @ 7:01 pm
david nail is very underrated i don’t know if it’s lack of interest from the label (i don’t think that’s the case he’s working with frank liddell one of the top producers in nashville and he’s on album number 4) or lack of interest from radio because on every album so far he has one single that’s a hit that radio plays the hell out of then the rest of the singles struggle on the charts and the best tracks are left as album cuts i hope this next album gets him more recognition because he’s a very talented vocalist and songwriter
May 24, 2016 @ 9:26 am
As for Clare Dunn, I think he has genuine talent and I like that her voice is very distinctive and she has also signaled an edge to her sound as reflected in her first couple of singles without pandering to the Carrie Underwood/Miranda Lambert murder song-he-ain’t-no-good crutch.
May 24, 2016 @ 11:26 pm
as far as gary allan is concerned tough all over came out when i was about 13 and it touched me to the point where i’ve bought every album of his since (i even found an old copy of smoke rings about a year ago that i listen to constantly) i got to seem him open for kenny chesney while living hard was out and i liked his show more than kenny’s but that hangover song there was just something missing really hoping this single is better because i’m really looking forward to his next album
May 24, 2016 @ 11:03 am
What the hell happened to Gary Allan? Between this and the new Dierks Bentley album two of my favorite artists of my early 20’s have turned to crap by the time I turn 30. Oh well, guess I’ll keep ignoring mainstream artists not named Stapleton, Church or Pardi and keep listening to Whitey Morgan, Boland, Rogers, etc.
Slightly off-topic Trigger, but any thoughts on the new Jack Ingram single, “I’m Drinking Through It”? Much like these artists, it’s basically felt like forever since we heard new, original Ingram material. I’m still not sure how I feel about the lead single however, it’s better than what Pat Green and Cory Morrow have been putting out lately, but feels like it want’s to be an edgier version of the stuff found at Country radio these days.
May 24, 2016 @ 11:47 am
I may do a review of the new Jack Ingram song. We’ll see.
May 24, 2016 @ 6:03 pm
I recently bought the song and my big complaint is that, in the latter half of the song he jumbled up the lyrics to the point of throwing me off when I try to sing along with it.
Other than that, I think it’s a pretty funny song, my humble opinion it ranks up there with “Friends in Low Places” as my all-time favorite drinking/go fuck yourself songs.
May 24, 2016 @ 11:10 pm
i listened after i saw a few people mention it on here and i really like it it has a certain singer-songwriter sound to it even with the language which i don’t mind as it helps get the point across (i had to playback a certain line to be sure if he dropped an f bomb) if the rest of the album sounds even slightly like this i’ll for sure check it out
May 24, 2016 @ 11:52 am
I haven’t heard most of “Black”.yet, but I’ve been underwhelmed by every one of the promotional singles and, if they’re supposed to be representative of the album as a whole, it’s definitely going to mark a worrisome decline in quality from “Riser”.
“Riser” may not have been country in all honesty, but it was still effective as a mainstream heartland rock album and was mostly a slam dunk in terms of the tracks conveying a lot of heart and emotional payoff. So far “Black”, on the other hand, relies too much on meandering, spacey production that is deficit of the rawness that’s crucial to sell emotional nuance, and one too many previews sound like they’re trying way too hard to be sly or witty but instead come across as Pat Monahan-esque corniness lyrically (“Pick Up”, “What The Hell Was I Doin'”) while others try too hard to be mature but just feel wafer-thin.
Granted I gave yet to hear the majority of remaining tracks, but I can already pretty much tell that even if every one of them are solid, this will be his worst album as a whole since “Feel That Fire” (the only Bentley album I dislike as a whole to date).
May 25, 2016 @ 6:41 am
Dierks just hasn’t been the same since he dropped Jim Beavers (or maybe it was Brett) as his producer IMHO. His sound has gone from being rooted in a new traditional style with hints of Waylon and Bluegrass to, as you put it, basically a copycat of Train. It’s sad, because for my money his first 3 albums or so were some of the best mainstream Country albums of the 2000’s.
May 24, 2016 @ 11:12 am
Take a look at Mercury and Capitol they are both slow putting new cd’s out on the market.
May 24, 2016 @ 1:39 pm
Any idea if Gary’s song is a cover of the 07 Aldean song of same name? That was a great song that never got any daylight
May 24, 2016 @ 9:59 pm
I checked. Different songwriters 🙁
May 24, 2016 @ 1:51 pm
I hope Gary Allan make a comeback after his disappointed single “hangover tonight”.
May 24, 2016 @ 4:54 pm
Maybe Sam Hunt’s sales are slowing so their cow is dying.
A man can dream, right?
May 24, 2016 @ 5:12 pm
Sam Hunt is nearing the end of his “album cycle” as they say in the business, which will hypothetically free manpower up to work on these other projects.
May 24, 2016 @ 6:17 pm
His fifth single, “Make You Miss Me”, is certainly struggling compared to his first four smashes.
It just remains to be seen if it’s indicative of late era burnout, or a broader fatigue.
May 24, 2016 @ 10:00 pm
That’s too bad, because “Make You Miss Me” is a lot better than his other singles.
June 15, 2016 @ 6:51 pm
it’s climbing just slower than his last couple singles house party and break up in a small town peaked in the top 5 in 3-4 months while make you miss me has been out 3 months and is just starting to peak within the top 20 and get significant airplay in that same amount of time
May 24, 2016 @ 8:09 pm
I don’t understand why artist are signing with some of these labels. Ok, I do; its money I know. However the digital age has completely changed distribution of music. Streaming is taking over ‘sales’. So why would an “artist” sign with a company that A) doesn’t let them control their own ‘art’ and B) not even release music? I know this has been going on forever but now singers are being found on YouTube, etc.
I guess one could also ask why the hell would a company like MCA want to payroll singers if they don’t believe the music is good enough to turn a profit. Strange deal man and actually really fucked up IMO