Far from the wannabe bros and pretty boys populating record label rosters even into late 2015, you get the sense that Drake White is a real musician. A musician who can really play, who lives and breathes both his own music and the music of others, and who would do it regardless of whether there was any money in it because he just loves it. I could be wrong, of course, and good PR has been known to alter even my perception of the truth, but Drake White gives me hope for the men of mainstream country. He signed to Dot Records after Maddie & Tae helped re-launch the label, and has spent much of the past year out on tour with his band The Big Fire, in addition to regularly visiting radio stations to shake hands and play some tunes for listeners. His debut single ‘The Simple Life’ (released under MCA Nashville in 2013 before moving to Dot) peaked at #36 while this year’s ‘It Feels Good’ achieved the slightly higher #33. Not great, but solid considering his music is a combination of country, blues and rock – a proper southern sound. Think a mix between early Zac Brown Band with less island, and real southern bands like the Statesboro Revue.
Drake himself has a killer voice and his band are capable players, so all they need is a good song. New single ‘Livin’ The Dream’ boasts the writing trio of Jaren Johnston, Tom Douglas and Luke Laird, and the three of them have written some great tracks over the past few years. This one, like others in Drake’s repertoire, has a light groove present through his soulful vocal swagger over a bed of laid-back rock guitars. This is probably one of his most commercial efforts in terms of its full production and more familiar sound for country radio, although I must stress that it’s a far cry from some of the awful country pop dominating the airwaves. There is a strong but bouncy four on the floor beat while the tempo settles in the mids, as the melody quickly climbs for each phrase, often dropping off at the end to start the climb once more. It’s quite ear-catching and it has a good hook that will no doubt stand them in good stead.
The narrative, too, is as basic and comfortable as Drake has ever produced, celebrating the good but simple things in life and encouraging us to be more grateful for our blessings. It’s not preachy in the way that some of these kinds of messages can be, and reminds me somewhat of Zac Brown Band’s ‘Homegrown’ – just happy, feel good music for ordinary folk.
My only issue is that the short melodic phrases that make this track so interesting and catchy come to be repeated so much throughout that by two minutes in they’re becoming a little too much. ‘Livin’ The Dream’ is only 3:11 in length but it feels somehow longer, and while it’s a good song it does sort of feel like it’s bashing you over the head with the chorus. Having said that, this technique has worked for other artists on radio in the past (as well as having the opposite effect) so who knows how radio programmers and listeners will react. It can be tough to know what’s going to hit from a new act these days, and I guess Drake White just has to keep slummin’ at it until he breaks through.
He’ll do it, though.
Originally posted here.
