Curb Records
Release Date: March 8th 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Sawyer Brown– Desperado Troubadours (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Under This Ole Hat
- Nashville Cat
- I Wouldn’t Change A Thing
- Socrates
- The One I’ve Got
- God Bless This Road
- Goodnight And Good Morning
- This Side Of The Sky
- Get Me To The Stage On Time
- Desperado Troubadours
Prior to 2019, I don’t think I was ever that much of a fan of country music. Sure, I listened to the odd song from Carrie Underwood, and from Keith Urban, when they were on the radio; but other than that, I didn’t actively seek out the genre until I started blogging about country artists. And hence, I wasn’t in the ‘know’ about popular country solo artists and popular country bands. Even after I listened to country music on the regular from 2019 onwards, it was of ‘popular’ more contemporary artists such as Maddie & Tae, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Gabby Barrett, Carly Pearce, Blake Shelton and Walker Hayes, to others like Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Lindsay Ell, Cassadee Pope, Little Big Town, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, The McClymonts, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Stapleton, Ingrid Andress, Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen and Russell Dickerson… and even Taylor Swift! Even 90’s artists like Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and LeAnn Rimes, all resonated with me also; but older artists like Alan Jackson, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, George Strait, Randy Travis and even Reba and Dolly to some extent- were never in my radar to even dive deep into their discography. Sure, I’d be able to find some gold nuggets of treasure one way or another. But because I’m not from that time period of the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s; older country music won’t ever be my style because it describes a time when I wasn’t alive yet and I have little to no affinity to the period that they’re all singing about. Unfortunately though, that is the case with Sawyer Brown’s new album Desperado Troubadours.
I hadn’t heard of Sawyer Brown before until Casting Crowns announced their tribute album last year where the country group covered “The Altar And The Door”. The group sung that rendition of the track almost identically, and from then on… I was indifferent to this band. Sure, I looked them up- the lead singer Mark Miller coincidentally was Casting Crowns’ manager back in the day, and Casting Crowns signed (and still is!) to Beach Street Records- Mark Miller’s record label- as well! But there were so many country artists I was listening to and loving, and adding another to the list, especially a band that had been going for ever 40 years; well, to me that sounded like ‘work’! But with Desperado Troubadours releasing this year in 2024; I thought… why not? Is this album a conglomerate and mesh of 80’s cliches and country idioms that would go over my head? Or would it be modern and sound like 2024, and would the group be an artist that I would immediately take to and actually want to check out the discography? The answer… lies somewhere in the middle.
I’ve listened to this album about 2 times through so far. and never once did I feel the urge to pause and relisten to a few songs out of sheer brilliance or awesomeness or just curiosity about what the lyrics are all about. The music is seemingly still sounding like the 80’s (not a bad thing!), but Mark’s voice is so uninteresting and nondescript. The songs on the whole aren’t that interesting, and though I’m sure a deep dive in these lyrics will find something that is out of this world, a casual listen, and even a bit more of an efforted listen, results in just an album that seems out of place in this time of 2024. Had this album been released in the 80’s or 90’s, does it sound callous that I might’ve connected with it more? Sure, having your sound is good. Great, even. But when that sound turns into bland and stereotypic rock/country songs like those on this release; then that’s not really a good thing at al. Sure, the title track engages, as does “Socrates”, “God Bless The Road” and personal and emotional guitar led ballad “This Side Of The Sky”. But that’s just under half the album, and overall, Desperado Troubadours is a blur and 35 minutes of hardly anything timeless nor magical.
Sorry Mark Miller, but Desperado Troubadours is a project for the die-hard Sawyer Brown fans, and I’m not one of them. I may be in the future if I check out their discography. But that’s a big if, and even then, there’s no guarantee. Music speaks to everyone differently, so if you resonate with and love this project, then by all means, go for it! But as it stands now, Sawyer Brown is objectively talented, but they don’t really do anything for me. Maybe I should listen more to Casting Crowns instead?
3 songs to listen to: Socrates, This Side Of The Sky, Desperado Troubadours
Score: 3/5
RIYL: Brooke And Dunn, Blake Shelton, Little Big Town, Casting Crowns, Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Brothers Osborne, Steve Grace