Review – Australian Country Artists Series Volume 1

Compilation CD through Great Southern Land Promotions

Aficionados and members of Cradle City Country Music might be familiar with Stephen R Cheney’s country music exploits, but here he is with a new venture, called Great Southern Land Promotions which is a means of promoting both well-known and up-and-coming country music artists.

This new venture has just released “Australian Country Artists Series Volume 1”, a compilation of two songs each from seven country music artists. The packaging is appears to have come out of someone’s home software whilst being credited to a professional graphic design outfit, and the accompanying flyers and radio-feedback is the photocopied-to-death stuff that should have been killed off by the Personal Computer age of the 1990s. But at the end of the day, the job of the music critic is to listen to the actual music, and the best way to critique this record is on an in order of appearance basis:

• Craig Giles: I’ve known of Craig’s work since my last months on Sounds from the Street at 2CCRfm in 1996. Better Back Up and Starry Sky are both lifted from his latest album “No Matter What”; the former opening the compilation upbeat and foot-a-tappin’ and the latter appears to be the obligatory ballad. Hopefully I will be hearing more from Craig after this compilation!
• Stephen R Cheney: In the tradition of “let’s put a compilation out and be on it” Stephen has contributed two tracks that, from the accompanying press kit, do not appear on any of his other records (he has listed nine other releases). You’re Never Really Dressed Until You Smile continues the mood established by Craig whilst Jesus, My Special Friend introduces us to another side of the Christian genre which I until today have not experienced. Stephen’s style, not unlike Tony Martin or Johnny Chester, is worthy of further investigation, for mine.
• Donella Plane: The first of Donella’s selections is the ballad I Have No Witness written by Janne Browne and Matthew Barnes, whilst the second Have A Little Dance with Me is in the tempo of Mona and includes a banjo and harp to countrify it. It would appear from the press that the album from which these tracks are lifted, If the Teardrops Fall, is her only release, but obviously that is a space-problem as this is her third, according to her excellent website.
• Mick Tenance: Whilst sounding vaguely like Lee Kernaghan with a cabaret / RSL-duet backing, Mick’s first track is the Doc Pomus / Mort Schulman standard Save The Last Dance for Me. Unfortunately, the backing-track quality doesn’t change for his own song Don’t Let Me Go.
• Ian B MacLeod: The RSL cabaret concept continues with Ian’s Frank Ifieldesque of the Webster/Fain standard Secret Love, complete with a yodeled middle-8. His other contribution is Waterfall, penned by him and still in the same style as the cover.
• Owen Blundell: One of the three artists on this collection that wrote both of their contributions, Owen’s two contributions are Changing Ways, your atypical American-styled country song that you’d expect to hear at one of those steak houses that have dancing waiters (I now have Roy and HG’s ‘anthem’ Thank You For Just Being You going through my head), and Once Upon a Princess, a ballad in the Kernaghan / Porter style, save for the “Sound of Style” sax.
• Tony Martin: This is the sort of music you would have heard on the Sounds from the Street country music shows and something you would expect on regional or national country music radio shows. Tony’s style that is very contemporary beckons one to take a look at his website so as to get a hold of his back-catalogue.

For the over-50s, I recommend Mick Tenance and Ian Macleod; for the others, try Craig Giles, Stephen R Cheney, Donella Plane, or Tony Martin; for the honky-tonk lovers, Owen Blundell would probably suit you best. But for those with the country bent, and so many people claim theirs to be that, then getting a hold of Australian Country Artists Series Volume 1 would be the thing to do. It highlights the superfluity of variety that is available under the Country Music banner and shows that there is more to Australia Country Music than Tamworth or the ABC Country brigade!

PG (Jacky) Gleeson