Whitney Rose Brings Both Style AND Substance to “Rule 62”
You know, at some point something very fundamental changed among the ranks of neotraditional country artists starring on the stages of east Nashville and south Austin dive bars, where it began to be more about the throwback Howdy Doody style ornamented with vintage duds, and doing something to impress each other as opposed to focusing on the music first.
When BR549 and the other cats that helped revitalize classic country in the mid and late 90’s were plying their craft, clothiers in Nashville were throwing away classic Nudie-style finery by the dumpster full because they could never fathom a time when it would be fashionable ever again. Now if you feel so inclined, you can spend $250.00 in a vintage store on a used shirt swiped from the Goodwill in Hendersonville for $2.99, and many do just to keep up with the fashion show on display at certain spots in the hipster parts Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
It’s cool that so many people still care about the fashion and the glitz of classic country that they’re willing to help keep that alive along with the music. But fashion and style—whether it’s the shirt you’re wearing or the song you’re singing—is not enough. You can scream “Yippie ki-yay” all you want, but you still have to say something and have some substance behind your music, or instead it’s no different than the flair and glitz of the mainstream, just appealing to a different sensibility.
Whitney Rose could be a candidate for one of these throwback ultra-stylized mod classic country fashion plates with her beehive haircuts and vintage hot pants and short skirts. Don’t think I’m complaining about her fashion sense; I’m a man with a beating pulse no different as any, and predisposed to find favor with how old clothes denote old souls. But you don’t watch a record, and Whitney Rose elevates herself by writing and selecting songs that do what all the best classic country artists did: say something in a way that’s never been said before, giving perspective to universal emotions and moments, and making you feel something deeper than simple nostalgia.
A song like “I Don’t Want Half (I Just Want Out)” from Whitney Rose’s new album Rule 62 would have been a master hit and a career mark if a country artist like Tammy Wynette cut it at the height of her career. “Better To My Baby” and “Never Cross My Mind” are similar in approach to other classic country songs—just enough to give you that same warmth an old country standard does—but with a new twist to make it appeal to today’s perspective.
Rule 62 is also helped along by the high-class crew assembled to put music and rhythm behind these words, namely producer Raul Malo of The Mavericks who has worked with Whitney before, Niko Bolas as co-producer, as well as “Cousin” Kenny Vaughan, fellow Fabulous Superlative Chris Scruggs, Aaron Till from Asleep At The Wheel, and Paul Deakin of The Mavericks. No need to strain trying to interpret the greats of country music on this record. Whitney Rose just hired them to play themselves.
Whitney Rose and Rule 62 don’t adhere as much to genre as they do to era. The heart is definitely classic country, and the writing of songs like “Tied To The Wheel” and “Trucker’s Funeral” reinforce that, and are also cool to hear coming from the female perspective, when most trucker and travel songs in country have for too long been the realm of the men. But Whitney is also willing to get a little jangly and classic rock and roll in songs like “Can’t Stop Shaking” and “You’re A Mess.” Having Raul Malo on board, who is so fluent in the era Whitney looks to evoke, as well as players who understand the textures of this time period, make the transitions feel fluid and organic.
Whitney Rose’s Rule 62 (which by the way is “Don’t Take Yourself Too Damn Seriously”), is fun and fashionable in that throwback sort of way that’s the rage of independent roots circles at the moment, while also being bolstered by quality songwriting framed within a vintage era that still appeals to the modern perspective.
1 3/4 Guns Up (7.5/10)
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October 6, 2017 @ 12:06 pm
The sax works great in this tune. No cliches. Really tasty guitar. Fun lyric. Mexi vibe. Sold on this one.
October 6, 2017 @ 1:04 pm
Love her look, style of the song but I wish she had a stronger voice and better production because I can’t hardly hear her vocals.
October 6, 2017 @ 3:05 pm
That’s a good point about the vocals in the production. I noticed this when I listened to her EP earlier this year (which is great!) and then listened to her 2012 self-titled debut immediately afterwards. There’s a noticeable difference in the production, namely in the strength of her vocals, which are clearer and more pronounced in her debut album — and probably also in comparison to her sophomore album. Y’all can check out the debut album on Spotify, though I’d recommend purchasing it.
Regardless, I love this new album. She never disappoints, now with three very solid LP’s and one very solid EP.
October 6, 2017 @ 2:33 pm
Whitney Rose’s style, mannerism, voice, and song writing is crafted to perfection. 10/10 for me!
October 6, 2017 @ 4:45 pm
Well, Trig managed over the course of two articles today run off the gun-nuts and the political correct bleeding hearts. It’s just us remaining. Feels like 2010.
I love Rule 62.
October 9, 2017 @ 5:42 am
Sorry, this gun nut is still here. Love this, too.
October 9, 2017 @ 6:36 am
Feels like 2010.
And almost right on cue, Hellbound Glory’s new album drops this week. And it’s on Shooter Jennings’s label. Good times. 😉
October 11, 2017 @ 12:31 pm
Hey, Jack!
Saw this today and thought of you …..
http://americansongwriter.com/2017/10/stream-hellbound-glorys-new-album-pinball/
Stream the new Hellbound Glory Album!
October 11, 2017 @ 2:48 pm
Hey, thanks, Hoptowntiger94. Yeah, I saw that today,too, and I did listen to it all. Sounds pretty good.
October 12, 2017 @ 11:25 am
I think it’s been a pretty bleak year for our kind of music (we were due after years of great albums). However, the next few weeks will be exciting – Hellbound Glory, Margo Price (also streaming on NPR), Lee Ann Womack, Turnpike Troubadours, Willie & Sons, and the posthumous album by Sharon Jones.
October 6, 2017 @ 5:21 pm
“Arizona” sounds like a “My Boots”
October 6, 2017 @ 9:30 pm
I was really frustrated when putting this review together that some of the best tracks, and some of the more country tracks on the record were not available in any embeddable preview form. “I Don’t Want Half,” “You Never Cross My Mind,” “Tied to the Wheel,” “Trucker’s Funeral,” etc. I would say that “Arizona” was one of the weaker tracks, but it’s all I really had. “Can’t Stop Shaking” is more rock and roll.
I say this to encourage folks to listen to the album and not make assessments based off of one song, though this should go for any album review.
October 9, 2017 @ 7:08 am
Jeez, if Arizona is one of the weaker tracks, then I’m in. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
October 11, 2017 @ 2:22 pm
Me too! Plus my four year old loves dancing to it!
This album is superb.
October 6, 2017 @ 5:30 pm
Not feeling it. It seems forced and phony like most every other female artist. Where’s the depth?
October 6, 2017 @ 9:31 pm
Bad comment. Implies that females somehow make worse artists solely based on their gender.
October 6, 2017 @ 9:42 pm
I said most. Believe me, I wish there were more female artists out there I could relate to. Love Holly Williams! Great artist!
October 7, 2017 @ 12:28 am
she isn’t country but maren morris’ record is fresh , smart hooky as hell, riddled with honest observation, superb song-crafting , her incredibly passionate vocals and a band with arrangements that support her every step of the way . and yes …I’m a HUGE holly williams fan .
October 7, 2017 @ 7:57 am
I can tolerate a couple of songs on Maren’s album. She has a beautiful voice but so do millions of other human beings. To be honest it sounds to me like the same rhymes and song ideas that make me beat my head against the wall in music row cowrites. There is so much more to life than romance/love songs. Life can be so cruel. It’s full of ups and downs. That is what artists like Sturgill and Isbell understand as songwriters. They write about all of life. I wish there were more women writers doing that. There are a few. They just don’t get the same attention as manufactured pop stuff.
October 7, 2017 @ 8:57 am
”I can tolerate a couple of songs on Maren’s album. She has a beautiful voice but so do millions of other human beings. To be honest it sounds to me like the same rhymes and song ideas that make me beat my head against the wall in music row cowrites. There is so much more to life than romance/love songs. Life can be so cruel. It’s full of ups and downs. That is what artists like Sturgill and Isbell understand as songwriters. They write about all of life. I wish there were more women writers doing that. There are a few. They just don’t get the same attention as manufactured pop stuff. ”
All true Amanda and I do agree . But radio is about marketing to young people , as we know , and my take on Maren has much to do with THAT as a starting point. No …she isn’t Lori McKenna or Gretchen Peters … YET . But I think that what she is writing/co-writing , recording and getting played is SO much better than most contemporary music no matter the genre for the reasons indicated above . AND its organic and , in that regard , is reminiscent of early MOTOWN energy . While , perhaps , a distillation of contemporary styles , its played and sung by REAL players …, it manages to sound sonically unique for its time in terms of instrumentation and it has hooks and energy like early Motown . In these times that itself is a trick . But Maren could sing ( and has sung ) anything with just her acoustic guitar and make us feel it and THAT’S the biggerst reason her stuff stands out , I think .
The other day I was listening to Jason Isbell’s new record and some of his older stuff. Although I appreciate his tackling such ‘deep’ subject matter and his writing , I can’t help feeling down most of the time he’s singing . For me its a bit TOO introspective and the arrangements are very generic -sounding ….not really arresting or moving in a unique way . In a word , I get bored quick . I think someone like Maren is the antithesis to the Isbells in the ways I’ve pointed out above and I completely understand why a younger listener ( and radio ) can relate …its universal . Not sure the Sturgills or Isbells are even attempting to be relate-able in the same way …they’ve found a following though and that’s what matters to an artist . Apples and oranges , really . And there are actually a lot of women singers/writers doing what Holly Williams is doing ….. Gretchen , Patty Griffin , Mindy Smith , even Dolly ( talk about subject matter ), a lot of Bluegrass singers ..Irene Kelly , Alecia Nugent , Sierra Hull ….but they won’t get played commercially . Maren will ….and should.
October 7, 2017 @ 7:17 am
Sure, she’s no Holly Williams, who I adore, but I don’t always want to listen to that. Whitney is not striving to be the personal, autobiographical singer-songwriter. That being said, there are songs like “You Never Cross My Mind” on this album and all her albums.
October 7, 2017 @ 8:33 am
Have you listened to any of Whitney’s back catalog? if not I strongly advise you too. I think you will find that nothing is phony or forced.
October 6, 2017 @ 8:52 pm
Yeah, just not all that noteworthy. Kind of a novelty and there is music of much more significance out there deserving to be be reviewed.
October 6, 2017 @ 9:36 pm
Ha! I get shit all week for not focusing on music, even though I’m posting reviews left and right that folks ignore. Now what I’m reviewing is being questioned if it is deserving. I’d encourage everyone to listen beyond the song posted here. Not every album is going to be an Album of the Year candidate. You can’t argue opinions and we can disagree on taste, but this is a classic country record from an up-and-coming artists that has some serious traction in her career that deserves a review as much as anyone on release day. You don;t like it, that’s totally understandable. Questioning why I would review it seems a little shortsighted.
Sorry, just tired of constantly getting thrashed at every single turn for everything I do. If I’m not presenting the next Sturgill Simpson every single day, apparently I am doing something wrong.
October 7, 2017 @ 7:05 am
Well Trigger my apologies as a couple days after the Vegas shooting I posted that I wished you would review something “country,” you have and now it’s not “deserving to be reviewed.” This is some good music and she has surrounded herself with great people. I can’t wait to hear the rest. Keep up the great work.
October 7, 2017 @ 8:36 am
I don’t understand why everyone keeps calling her a novelty act, saying she sounds forced.. people need to understand this is her third album, along with an excellent ep. Like you said she has some serious momentum behind her career and I think she is great.
November 13, 2017 @ 2:54 pm
Coming back to this to read your review after searching for it, while listening, and considering booking a February show for southern Oregon. Thanks for all of your reviews. Wether reading them when fresh or circling around to get a clear-minded take, I rely on your reviews…even if it isn’t a review of Sturgill.
October 6, 2017 @ 9:42 pm
No good deed goes unpunished around here!
Still no better place on the interwebs for discovering great new music.
October 7, 2017 @ 5:13 am
Does she ever tour with JD McPherson? That’d be a nice double bill.
October 8, 2017 @ 7:05 pm
That would be a HELL of a show. Their styles would mesh really well.
October 7, 2017 @ 8:57 am
This album is good, but the styling feels forced and derivative. Maybe this is really who she is, but I personally, don’t want to go back to the 1970’s, and it feels like it’s trend chasing, just a different trend.
One reason I like Isbell & Giddens & Brandy is that they don’t seem like they come from central casting & check all the check marks for the scene.
October 9, 2017 @ 6:27 am
Nikki Lane is cashing some decent checks right now and Vinyl Ranch is doing good business selling $40 t-shirts, not surprising that it’s a scene that people don’t mind jumping in to.
October 9, 2017 @ 12:54 pm
Some days I think I’m alone on the Nikki Lane island, but I think her music is great. Shes authentic, North Carolina roots, writes her own material and puts on one heck of an exciting live show. Loretta Lynn likes her, even had Nikki perform in her living room on tv. Shes got pedal steel in her band too. Trigger seems to consider her fake, because of her retro styling
Personally I think her album Highway Queen is fantastic. Trig line about Yippee Ki Yay is a reference to her song 700,000 rednecks. It’s a fun song, she always opens with it and it gets people excited. Not meant to be a deep introspective Kristofferson masterpiece, but a fun song about dreaming of big star success. Anyhow that’s my soapbox on her.
As to Whitney, vocals sound unimpressive but given a chance to see her live I will.
October 9, 2017 @ 2:59 pm
Nope. You’re not alone.
October 7, 2017 @ 11:52 am
Music doesn’t “progress” unless you’re at the bleeding edge of musical knowledge and pushing. In terms of musical knowledge, most music in the west hasn’t left the 18th century. There isn’t a single edgy musical innovation in Isbell’s music, or most anyone else’s. So relax. Everything is a potential tradition to work at for a while, and therefore in — and then move laterally to something else.
October 7, 2017 @ 3:05 pm
All of Whitney’s releases so far have been very good ao I appreciate the review on this one.
With some of the earlier comments above, I would put forth that there are a number of very good female country singers and acts out there right now. Third Man Records has two in fact, Margo Price and Lillie Mae, who’s ewbut this year is one of the strongest country albums produced this year.
October 8, 2017 @ 7:03 pm
She’s great, love the Texas swing vibe, especially in her EP. Will be playing this often.
October 9, 2017 @ 9:12 am
Booked Whitney for my second Toronto show in 2011 (she was still pretty new in town from her home PEI), she was wonderful. Same year I booked un- or little-knowns Lydia Loveless in Boston and Sturgill Simpson (w/ Sunday Valley) in Nashville. Tried to get Whitney for my 10th annual in Nashville Nov. 4, which is devoted to Cosmic Ladies In the Legacy (and Gram and Emmylou), but she was on tour. Best of luck to her and thanks for reviewing her latest.