CD Review- Randy Houser- Anything Goes

Randy Houser created a great new sound to country music Nov. 18 with the Universal Records South release of his first album, Anything Goes. Call it Good-Ole-Boy-Country-Twang-Honkytonk-Southern-Country-Cool-Songwriting. The old saying is that you can’t be all things to all people. Randy Houser proves that saying wrong.

The first radio release off of the album, the title track Anything Goes, is a beautiful old-school country ballad that vocally sounds amazingly close to Ronnie Dunn (of Brooks & Dunn fame). All the other songs on the album—eight of which Houser co-wrote—are intoxicating as well. With his intense, fiery delivery and soulful sense of urgency, Houser is simply one of the most compelling and believable voices in country music today. This is the same songwriter that, shortly after his very first publishing deal, channeled his own personal animal impulses into a little song they called “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” You may have heard of it…

Born and raised in central Mississippi—where country, blues, R&B and gospel naturally converge—Houser had the additional advantage of having a dad who was a highly regarded singer and musician. (He tips his hat to his late father in the songs “Boots On” and “I’ll Sleep.”) By the time Houser was “15 or 16,” he was writing and performing his own songs. “I hated playing ‘covers’ of the hits,” he explains. “I knew that if I was ever going to do anything in music, I was going to have to learn to express myself. Otherwise, it was going to be the same-old same-old.”

This CD has many highlights. “My Kind Of Country” is a rowdy barroom jam ala Keith Anderson’s “Pickin’ Wildflowers” that gets your foot stompin. “How Many Times” leans to a more Motown influence that never loses its Nashville edge. “Something Real” sees Houser hitting a falsetto in the chorus that is as beautiful as it is distinctive. “Lie” is a great Brad Paisley-like talk-through song that displays a great sense of humor and musical timing. “Wild Wild West” and “Paycheck Man” are radio-friendly straight-forward country songs that while not particularly distinctive, are fun to listen to.

Comparisons to other artists, while natural to do, are unfair. This is just Randy Houser. A Randy Houser that, based on some great songwriting thus far in his career, is likely to be around awhile. Anything Goes is a great CD- one certainly to add to your collection.