LONESTAR
''NEVER ENDERS''
APRIL 29 2016
36:05
**********
01 - Never Enders 03:26 (Marv Green / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
02 - I Know It Was You 03:12 (Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Dean Sams)
03 - My Own Hometown 03:42 (Marty Dodson / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
04 - Twice (Eric Arjes / Jeremy Bussey / Jeff Pardo)
05 - This Time 03:59 (Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald)
06 - I've Been Wrong Before 03:35 (Susan Ruth / Dean Sams / Adam Wood)
07 - I Want A Love 03:54 (Michael Britt / Richie McDonald / Keech Rainwater / Dean Sams)
08 - Us 03:32 (Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Dean Sams)
09 - Here We Go Again 03:36 (Susan Ruth / Dean Sams / Adam Wood)
10 - Boomerang 03:44 (Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
**********
Michael Britt/Guitar (Electric)
Perry Coleman/Vocals (Background)
Eric Darken/Percussion
Paul Franklin/Lap Steel Guitar
Kenny Greenberg/Guitar (Electric)
Mark Hill/Guitar (Bass)
Jimmy Nichols/Hammond B3, Strings
Keech Rainwater/Drums
Dean Sams/Fender Rhodes, Guitar (Acoustic), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Ilya Toshinsky/Guitar (Acoustic)
Biff Watson/Guitar (Acoustic)
Derek Wells/Guitar (Electric)
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Moving over to Shanachie Records, the reunited Lonestar continue the path they started on 2013's Life as We Know It on Never Enders. The title song alludes to the group's status as survivors: at the point this record hit the stores in 2016, the quartet was closing in on a quarter-century in the business. To their credit, Lonestar choose to embrace their age here, getting a little bit more mellow than they did on the 2013 reunion with Richie McDonald, a move that's tantamount to a basic-to-basics for the quartet. From the insistent arena-country anthem of the title track to the preponderance of shiny sentimental ballads, this feels like a revival of late-'90s country, but what makes Never Enders work isn't that it succumbs to nostalgia, but rather that it relies on craft. The songs may not be grabbers, but they're sturdy, melodic constructions given a lift by an enveloping, polished production that effectively softens the rougher edges of McDonald's voice; he's hardly gravelly, but he is nicely weathered. All of these elements help turn Never Enders into an album that feels radio-radio by the rule books of 1997, but that's its appeal: it is Lonestar celebrating who they are, from their country-pop roots to their middle age. Such warm self-acceptance turns this album into a cozy, pleasurable affair.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Though their name might lead you to believe that Lonestar were formed in Texas, the quintet actually hails from Tennessee. Originally called Texassee, the band features Richie McDonald (lead vocals, guitar), John Rich (lead vocals, bass), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboard, background vocals), and Keech Rainwater (drums). All the members are in fact Texas natives -- they just formed in Tennessee in 1992.
Crazy Nights
In 1993, Lonestar played their first concert at Backstage Pass in Nashville in January of 1993. A booking agent happened to hear the show. Impressed, he added the group to his roster, and the group headed out on the road. Over the next two years, they played nearly 500 shows. In 1994, the group landed a record contract with BNA Records. The following year they released their eponymous debut, which spawned the Top Ten hit "Tequila Talkin'." Crazy Nights followed in 1997, and two years later Lonestar returned with Lonely Grill, which featured the hit "Amazed." Their seasonal effort This Christmas Time followed in fall 2000, and I'm Already There appeared the next spring. They released three more records after their 2003 greatest-hits compilation From There to Here: 2004's Let's Be Us Again, 2005's Coming Home, and 2006's Mountains. In late 2007, Lonestar announced that Cody Collins had replaced Richie McDonald as lead singer, and that their next album, My Christmas List, would be distributed by Cracker Barrel restaurants; McDonald also happened to release a seasonal album called If Every Day Could Be Christmas that same year.
Party Heard Around the World
Lonestar hired Cody Collins as their new lead vocalist and set about recording their eighth album, Party Heard Around the World. The album appeared in April 2010, debuting at 103 on the Billboard 200 and 20 on the Top Country Albums chart, and it soon faded, generating no big hit singles. Soon, Collins left Lonestar and McDonald -- whose solo career also failed to catch fire -- returned to the fold. The reunited Lonestar released Life as We Know It on June 4, 2013. They signed to Shanachie for their next album, 2016's Never Enders.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''NEVER ENDERS''
APRIL 29 2016
36:05
**********
01 - Never Enders 03:26 (Marv Green / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
02 - I Know It Was You 03:12 (Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Dean Sams)
03 - My Own Hometown 03:42 (Marty Dodson / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
04 - Twice (Eric Arjes / Jeremy Bussey / Jeff Pardo)
05 - This Time 03:59 (Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald)
06 - I've Been Wrong Before 03:35 (Susan Ruth / Dean Sams / Adam Wood)
07 - I Want A Love 03:54 (Michael Britt / Richie McDonald / Keech Rainwater / Dean Sams)
08 - Us 03:32 (Richie McDonald / Frank Myers / Dean Sams)
09 - Here We Go Again 03:36 (Susan Ruth / Dean Sams / Adam Wood)
10 - Boomerang 03:44 (Jeremy Bussey / Richie McDonald / Dean Sams)
**********
Michael Britt/Guitar (Electric)
Perry Coleman/Vocals (Background)
Eric Darken/Percussion
Paul Franklin/Lap Steel Guitar
Kenny Greenberg/Guitar (Electric)
Mark Hill/Guitar (Bass)
Jimmy Nichols/Hammond B3, Strings
Keech Rainwater/Drums
Dean Sams/Fender Rhodes, Guitar (Acoustic), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Ilya Toshinsky/Guitar (Acoustic)
Biff Watson/Guitar (Acoustic)
Derek Wells/Guitar (Electric)
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Moving over to Shanachie Records, the reunited Lonestar continue the path they started on 2013's Life as We Know It on Never Enders. The title song alludes to the group's status as survivors: at the point this record hit the stores in 2016, the quartet was closing in on a quarter-century in the business. To their credit, Lonestar choose to embrace their age here, getting a little bit more mellow than they did on the 2013 reunion with Richie McDonald, a move that's tantamount to a basic-to-basics for the quartet. From the insistent arena-country anthem of the title track to the preponderance of shiny sentimental ballads, this feels like a revival of late-'90s country, but what makes Never Enders work isn't that it succumbs to nostalgia, but rather that it relies on craft. The songs may not be grabbers, but they're sturdy, melodic constructions given a lift by an enveloping, polished production that effectively softens the rougher edges of McDonald's voice; he's hardly gravelly, but he is nicely weathered. All of these elements help turn Never Enders into an album that feels radio-radio by the rule books of 1997, but that's its appeal: it is Lonestar celebrating who they are, from their country-pop roots to their middle age. Such warm self-acceptance turns this album into a cozy, pleasurable affair.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Though their name might lead you to believe that Lonestar were formed in Texas, the quintet actually hails from Tennessee. Originally called Texassee, the band features Richie McDonald (lead vocals, guitar), John Rich (lead vocals, bass), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboard, background vocals), and Keech Rainwater (drums). All the members are in fact Texas natives -- they just formed in Tennessee in 1992.
Crazy Nights
In 1993, Lonestar played their first concert at Backstage Pass in Nashville in January of 1993. A booking agent happened to hear the show. Impressed, he added the group to his roster, and the group headed out on the road. Over the next two years, they played nearly 500 shows. In 1994, the group landed a record contract with BNA Records. The following year they released their eponymous debut, which spawned the Top Ten hit "Tequila Talkin'." Crazy Nights followed in 1997, and two years later Lonestar returned with Lonely Grill, which featured the hit "Amazed." Their seasonal effort This Christmas Time followed in fall 2000, and I'm Already There appeared the next spring. They released three more records after their 2003 greatest-hits compilation From There to Here: 2004's Let's Be Us Again, 2005's Coming Home, and 2006's Mountains. In late 2007, Lonestar announced that Cody Collins had replaced Richie McDonald as lead singer, and that their next album, My Christmas List, would be distributed by Cracker Barrel restaurants; McDonald also happened to release a seasonal album called If Every Day Could Be Christmas that same year.
Party Heard Around the World
Lonestar hired Cody Collins as their new lead vocalist and set about recording their eighth album, Party Heard Around the World. The album appeared in April 2010, debuting at 103 on the Billboard 200 and 20 on the Top Country Albums chart, and it soon faded, generating no big hit singles. Soon, Collins left Lonestar and McDonald -- whose solo career also failed to catch fire -- returned to the fold. The reunited Lonestar released Life as We Know It on June 4, 2013. They signed to Shanachie for their next album, 2016's Never Enders.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********