Tuneful tunes with touch of twang from Colerick

Brad Colerick
“Tucson”
(Back 9 Records)

Brad Colerick opens his fourth solo album with the title cut, which reminds us the road does not actually go on forever. Colerick goes on to examine his trip down that road in tuneful tunes with a touch of twang.

Colerick’s stories are worth hearing, in part because he makes singing sound so easy. His warm, sunny, homey tenor brings alive the characters, places and relationships in these 11 songs. Guitars, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and pedal steel reinforce the folksy mood.

Colerick grew up in Nebraska, lives in California and recorded the album in Arkansas, so it’s no surprise his subject matter covers lots of ground. On “Hob Thrasher,” a nonagenarian musician shows how to make the best of airport delays. “This is What I Do (Mighty Keeper)” celebrates everyone’s lot in life, however modest. There are also love songs happy and sad, reflections on a friend’s death, and a ballad to mom. The set closes, fittingly, with “Roll On.” (AP)


Neil Young breaks out the orchestra

Neil Young
“Storytone”
(Reprise Records)

Attention rock stars: No matter how much you want to, resist at all costs orchestrating your songs.

Almost without fail, it is the wrong call.

Case in point: Neil Young’s latest effort, “Storytone.”

Thankfully, Young has done listeners the favor of presenting the songs both with full orchestration and solo acoustic. The single disc version is with orchestration and on three songs, a big band, while the solo acoustic takes are available in a deluxe double-disc release.

Not that the orchestrated versions are a complete failure, it’s just that taken as a whole “Storytone” works best, and packs a bigger emotional punch, when Young sticks with the more familiar acoustic guitar and piano.

At its worst, as heard on the environmental battle cry “Who’s Gonna Stand Up,” the orchestration sounds like something out of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Protesting against fracking just feels right with a guitar backing, not a 92-piece orchestra.

Most often, less is more on “Storytone.” (AP)


‘Prizefighter’ shows Yearwood’s range

Trisha Yearwood
“Prizefighter: Hit After Hit”
(Gwendolyn/RCA Nashville)

Trisha Yearwood returns with her first new recordings in seven years with “Prizefighter,” which combines 10 of her best-known hits (“XXX’s and OOO’s,” “She’s in Love with the Boy”) with six new songs.

The title tune pairs Yearwood with acolyte Kelly Clarkson, and the two overcome the song’s empowerment clicheuros through the earth-shaking force of their voices. But the album includes better songs: “I Remember You” is a tender ballad addressing a lost love, set to quietly orchestrated strings. It allows Yearwood to reveal her talent for conveying emotion through a combination of strength and restraint.

Similarly, the cheeky “Your Husband’s Cheatin’ On Us” written by Matraca Berg, Marshall Chapman and novelist/playwright Jill McCorkle brings out Yearwood’s bluesy side, as heard on previous gems such as “Wrong Side Of Memphis” (another Berg cowrite featured on “Prizefighter”).

Yearwood’s reentry into the country music sweepstakes hasn’t received as much attention as that of her husband, Garth Brooks. But “Prizefighter” not only reminds listeners of Yearwood’s past triumphs; it also proves that her remarkable voice deserves a place among the current generation of country hit-makers. (AP)