Country music reviews, In an attempt to bring you the very best in Country Music reviews, Rikks Revues has gathered the best Independent and signed, or Major and smaller label country acts and has gathered them in one place for your viewing and listening pleasure. So take your time, and when you get done with one review, go back (click the arrow after the review) to the main Country reviews page, and check and see what other star, or star in the making you might have missed. If a single artist has more than one review, they will all be listed on the artists main page, newest reviews always nearer the top. Enjoy the Review of Matt Thackston - Better Than Here, then head back to the main country music page and check out any other artists you may have missed, or would like to read about.

Click on The Matt Thackston CD cover to go check out his website.

Matt Thackston - Better Than Here

Matt Thackston - Better Than Here

Listening to Matt Thackston for the first time makes you wonder why you haven't heard this music before. Poignant lyrics that are immediately recognizable and familiar blended with melodic vocals and music that personifies the term of Americana by blending bluegrass, roots rock, and solid country. Proving again that independent music holds some of the best singers and songwriters that deserve to be heard, but are too often overlooked simply because they don't have the major label money helping push them to the spotlight.

Better Than Here has even been included in a list by CMT.com The 20 Best Albums You Might Have Missed in 2003. The list also includes heavy weights like Shelby Lynne, Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson. Matt Thackston deserves to be included on this list by the pure emotion and raw talent that drives this young performer. I have to say thank you to Bruce Springsteen for writing and performing a song (Thunder Road) that influenced a young Matt Thackston enough to decide that music was a calling he had to answer.

The intelligent and well thought out lyrics are so captivating that you will find yourself listening to the CD over and over again to experience the sounds and stories as if for the first time. The heart that Matt Thackston obviously puts into his music is powerful and drives the message home without trying to force feed you. It is no exaggeration to say that this is one artist that you may not have experienced, but you should. If you want some real content in your music, written with true heart and emotion you don't have to look any further. 

Drawing on life experiences from growing up in Eden, North Carolina. Blend that with the struggles that face us day to day with an outlook on how good life can if we choose it. This is a CD that includes no filler, there are no tracks that deserve to be skipped or passed over. This is a true music experience filled with great songs from start to finish. Great songwriting and performance that includes "It Was Our Town", the amazing "Long Way From Over Her", "Blood Brothers" and "When It Comes To Love". A-plus across the board! 

  ( 5 Stars out of 6 )

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