Album Review: Chris Janson’s ‘Everybody’

Over the past couple of years, Chris Janson has developed quite the following among fans for his high-energy performances and the passion he brings to the stage – and his records. There are few artists who have demonstrated such a commitment to growing his brand – particularly on the road. Over the past few years, the Warner Brothers recording artist hasn’t slowed down one bit, whether opening for Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, or Sam Hunt, or performing on his own at state and county fairs, or on his favorite stage of all – the Grand Ole Opry. Go see Janson in concert and you will come away energized to say the least. His 2015 debut album, Buy Me A Boat, made him fans across the United States, and look for Everybody, his long-awaited follow-up, to continue to push him toward the upper echelon of country artists on the marketplace today.

The album is a perfect mix of everything that Janson does so exceedingly well. If you want fast-pace, he can fill the bill. Songs like the opening “Who’s Your Farmer” have every bit as much charm and attitude as anything from his first disc, even “Boat,” which still sounds as good now as it did when Bobby Bones first broke the single on his popular morning show. Other songs in this mode include the reckless abandon of the amusing title track, the wild “Redneck Life” and the radio-ready sarcastic charm of “When You Like Me,” co-written with his wife and co-manager, Kelly.

At the same time, as his emotional hit “Holdin’ Her” demonstrates, Janson is also comfortable when he’s pushing the emotional envelope. “Eyes For Nobody” has a bit of a romantic 1980s feel to it, which is also slanted toward the vocal stylings of some of Merle Haggard’s fine work of the early 1980s. While that song is about his love for his wife, he also talks about other aspects of his family, as he does on the stunning “Bein’ A Dad,” which is all about the change that came over him when he became a father. You can tell that he lives each and every word of this great track, and the result is one of the warmest performances of his young career.

As a songwriter, Janson shines the brightest on the masterfully written and produced “Drunk Girl.” Featuring the incomparable keyboard work of the amazing Gordon Mote, Janson delivers a message for the ages and gives a performance that I can almost guarantee we all may be talking about at a future awards show. Kudos also must be delivered to veteran producer Scott Hendricks. When the longtime exec took over as Janson’s producer, I was the first to wonder if he was going to take the Missouri native down the same road as some of Blake Shelton’s more recent work in light of the continued success of the biggest artist on the Warner Brothers roster – currently. Wisely, for the most part (“Name On It” being the lone exception – a song that just sounds like anyone could have recorded it , in spite of it being a Janson original), Hendricks is letting Chris Janson be Chris Janson… and from the sound of this disc, that is a very good thing to be these days!