Jason Whitton: Album Reviews

Jason Whitton may have a few hits on his hands if the folks in Nashville found out about Thriftstore Cowboy. How could you possibly go wrong with a title like that? Its like “Rhinestone Cowboy” or “Urban Cowboy,” it has a certain ring to it, just like all the tracks on the album.

The album gets you in the groove right from the start with a melodic heartfelt tune titled “Alibi.” Whitton sounds a lot like Michael Stipe of REM on the track. In fact, the entire song sounds like it came from an REM album. I always cringe a bit inside when I make comparisons to other artists but sometimes I just cannot help it. It’s always meant as a huge compliment from my point of view.

Music and lyrics like this gives me the goose bumps and that chill up my spine, the kind they say you feel when a spirit just came in the room and left. It is something you recognize immediately being something that is honest and real-like mom and apple pie. Whitton sings in very simplistic terms and gets to the point in his songs and the instrumentation serves as a perfect match. The acoustic guitar is irresistible as it strums along preying upon your heartstrings every step of the way. The reason it affected me so was Whitton’s vocals, they pull you inside the song in a snap. His sound is so familiar to me; it made me think of Kenny Loggins meets Michael Stipe with clearly defined country Americana flair. In the closing track, a great cover of “Use Me,” he sounds fantastic and very much like Loggins, more so than on any other track. In any event, regardless of comparisons I make its all good. I certainly appreciated all the music and the standout vocals. I am not a pickin’ and a grinin’ type of country listener, I like that roots Americana feel with just enough country twang to make it all an all around appealing mixture. For those that like ballads, “Madagascar” and “Ruby” are notable tracks.

This is an excellent album, each track offers something good to absorb and apply to your own life in some way, and the musicianship is outstanding, making Thriftstore Cowboy one of the best new albums of 2006. You don’t have to be a cowboy or six-string slinger to find common ground with music like this.

Friday, March 31, 2006
Jason Whitton: A Well-Rounded Radio Rave

Sometimes first impressions can be wrong. I received a CD recently from Jason Whitton called Thriftstore Cowboy and first thought it was going to be modern country. The cover includes all the trappings: a cowboy hat, long leather coat, some industrial scenic shots recalling some industrial southern town.

Granted, I'm not a big fan of modern country music. My album/tape/CD collection is chock full of pre-1970 country music, but nowadays it just plain scares me. I sometimes watch country music videos and am a just a little shocked that I'm from the same country or planet as most of these performers. Vegas has got nothing on modern country music.

Witton is really a singer-songwriter with just an occasional twang. He reminds me more of Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, The Jayhawks, or Calexico more than anything I've heard from the world of modern country. Whitton has a deft way of handling his vocals and lyrics that brought me back for more. The instrumentation is sparse and tasteful and I think fans of the above or a variety of Americana singer/songwriters would enjoy the CD...just don't let the cover art fool you!

Sometimes it just pays to sit back and listen to the lyrics... And so it is with Country singer-songwriter, Jason Whitton whose new CD, Thriftstore Cowboy is due to be released on February 7th.

Jason is a storyteller the likes of which we haven’t heard in several years. His love songs take us back to places we would have liked to have been if by chance we were never there, and his ballads reach right into your heart and pull at you just like the old country masters once did.

A southpaw from Texas now living in California, Jason Whitton writes songs of universal appeal, based in the lives of everyday people, regular folks, and the regular problems they encounter. Yes, this young songwriter is one of those guys who writes songs as if he wrote them about you and me.

Hungry Heart Cafe-- my favorite song on the album-- is a story about a hometown girl who goes to Hollywood and makes it big leaving behind all the baggage and told from the perspective of her biggest fan-- the guy she left behind. You know, the guy she never knew existed. I guess it strikes a cord... Maybe I’ll tell you about her someday, maybe not.

While he may be Country-- some say Country/Americana-- you’ll no doubt hear influences from Folk, Rock, and old style R&B that includes an astounding cover of the Bill Wither’s classic, “Use Me.” It takes a lot of guts for a country singer to cover R&B and the fact that Jason Whitton pulls it off is testament to his tried and true talent.

Among his many influences are Elvis, Garth Brooks, the Beatles, Keith Urban, Tracy Chapman, and most recently, Nicklecreek.

You can click on the picture of the CD to listen for free or buy a copy of Thriftstore Cowboy if you like what you hear more and look for Jason Whitton as he spends most of 2006 touring the country promoting Thriftstore Cowboy.

JASON WHITTON has that sense of mystery that a troubadour like ROY ORBISON used to emanate. The songs are dark and deeply personal yet no one knows who the singer is. WHITTON's debut CD "THRIFTSTORE COWBOY" (VAVV RECORDS) is a collection of songs that celebrate all of the good, the bad and the ugly that life has going for it. THRIFTSTORE COWBOY is a brilliant introduction to an excellent singer-songwriter. From it's haunting opening track ALIBI to the optimistic I STILL BELIEVE IN LOVE, the lovely DANDELION GIRL and the plaintive FINGERNAIL MOON ( featuring cello by DERMOT MULRONEY) THRIFTSTORE COWBOY is recording brimming with angst, hope and sincerity. Let's just say that you'll be playing it over and over again on a dark night with a glass of Merlot. Let's not forget his stunning cover of the BILL WITHERS classic USE ME. After just one captivated listen, you're going to think that it was always a haunting country ballad. Yes, his music has garnered him quite a bit of attention already. MUSIC-SITES.NET calls THRIFTSTORE COWBOY "...
one of the best new albums of 2006.” SMOTHER MAGAZINE calls the music of JASON WHITON "...Perfectly suited for AAA mainstream radio." and BLOGGINGPOET.COM calls JASON "...a storyteller the likes of which we haven't heard in several years."

ROCKWIRED spoke with this seemingly mysterious troubadour over the phone, only to find that he's a real nice guy. However, when I played the tape back in order to transcribe the interview with this fine man, I discovered that the tape was blank. Apparently, I plugged something into the wrong place and all that was recorded was silence.

The theme of the interview that you are never going to read focused on my lack of understanding of what Americana was. It' is a word used liberally throughout his press release when describing his sound, so I thought it only natural to start from there. Here is how the second interview went.

Read the interview using the link below.

Listen to a live interview