SOUND CHECK.FAITH HILL: ``Fireflies'' (Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .) - Two stars Despite Hill's new hair color, this is not a total back-to-the-roots makeover. Three years after the bland pop barnstormer ``Cry,'' the eclectic ``Fireflies'' spotlights good Nashville songwriting, adds a little Latin spice and, thankfully, sees Hill toning down the histrionics. Longtime fans and country radio programmers, if few others, will find much to celebrate. The first single, ``Mississippi Girl,'' brings Hill full circle to where she began, before she became a cover girl, crossover star, actress and Tim McGraw's missus mis·sus n. Variant of missis. missus or missis Noun 1. Brit, Austral & NZ informal . Big & Rich's John Rich, among Music City's most in-demand tunesmiths, composed the biographical song expressly for Hill, and the track comes very close to convincing. Other highlights in this ballads-heavy set also come by way of Rich's pen. Curtain-raiser ``Sunshine and Summertime'' is as homespun as Hill can possibly get, while ``Like We Never Loved at All,'' featuring guest vocals from McGraw, is destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to become one of the summer's shopping mall hits. With unexpectedly good writers and musicians in her corner, and a slightly less formulaic approach to the whole thing, Hill is about to make another fortune. - Fred Shuster UNCLE EARL Uncle Earl is an American old-time music group, formed in 2000[1] by KC Groves and Jo Serrapere. They are an all-women-band and often they refer to themselves as the g'Earls. Their fans have also been nick-named as g'Earlfriends[2]. : ``She Waits for Night'' (Rounder) - Three and one half stars No guys, actually, in this old-timey string quartet string quartet Ensemble consisting of two violins, viola, and cello, or a work written for such an ensemble. Since c. 1775 such works have been perhaps the predominant genre of chamber music. . Maybe the gals named their band after the illustrious Mr. Scruggs? They ain't saying, but they sure are playing - and singing - in tight formations that sound like a more assertive version of The Be Good Tanyas. It's mostly ancient mountain and Southern tunes, a few authentic-sounding originals and an ironic Irish seagoing sea·go·ing adj. Made or used for ocean voyages. seagoing Adjective built for travelling on the sea Adj. 1. saga, all done in impeccable folk style. Banjoist extraordinaire ex·tra·or·di·naire adj. Extraordinary: a jazz singer extraordinaire. [French, from Old French, from Latin extra Abigail Washburn has an equally beguiling solo album, ``Song of the Traveling Daughter,'' where some of the songs are in Mandarin Chinese. - Bob Strauss CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Faith Hill) Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com (2 -- 3) no caption (CD covers) |
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