"The Good Life," Trip Lee

“The Good Life” — CD Review by Sean Mitchell (Devot) Weiss
Trip Lee
Reach Records

“The Good Life” is the Christian rapper Trip Lee’s 4th album to come out of Reach Records. The CD explains to the listener the true vision and true way to the true good life through Christ.

The song “War” pops off a question in some people’s minds of where they are  going to go when they die. But what are we at war with? The song “iLOVE” tells of a story of a man spending all of his riches on a woman who doesn’t even love him and of him trying to force himself to leave her, So, in terms, the war is in us and our love for the world.

“Fantasy” tells the listener that it’s cool to like fairy tales, but it’s when we try to live in them is when we fail. And that’s what we do everyday when we are trying to live as something or someone we’re truly not and who God doesn’t want us to be.
The album takes off when “Love On Display” comes on and says “Hey…there is a better life than this, it’s just right in front of you.”
Now it’s time to go deeper into the true meaning of this album.
“Heart Problem” goes into how the world has taken the gifts of God like power, sex and money and makes them idols in our lives. Well Trip shows us some “New Dreams” and shows a life where we are happier with God than we were with the things that we thought made us happy. Trip tells how no matter what happens in our life, it is all “For My Good” because most likely Godis using it to make us closer to Him.

Sean Mitchell Weiss with his cousin Chandler Henson

The song “Robot” tells how, with God as your master, you are no longer controlled by worldly things. God told Trip Lee by that He wants every single person to have a chance at the good life, so Trip wrote the song “Beautiful Life” almost like a letter to men and women who are considering abortion after an unexpected pregnancy, and tells how if you already have had one, it’s OK because God still loves you.
The song “Good Thing” is Trip telling his wife he loves her and that he thanks God for putting her in his life. “One Sixteen” and “Know Me” tell how now that you know the Lord now you want to brag about Him and let other people know about the good life.
Now living the good life isn’t always easy. “Fallin” explains how no matter how many times you personally fail, God will always pick you back up. There are also going to be worldly problems and people who don’t really agree with what you say and may threaten you. “I’m Good” is a strong song that states no matter what threats or pain the world throws at us, we’re good because we still have the Lord on our side. “Take Me There” is just really a feel-good song that says “I want to live where You live, Lord, and live as You do.”
Trip Lee has done a great job of showing the good life to the world and how he has allowed God to influence his life and hopefully the life of everyone who gets a chance to listen to this album.
The CD is available on ITunes and on Amazon Web sites.

“It’s Only Natural” — The Oak Ridge Boys — Cracker Barrel Music

Before I die, I wanna…

The Oak Ridge Boys have perhaps the best “bucket list” song out there, made up of things to do “before I die,” but also of characteristics and qualities still to become. It’s on their newest CD, “It’s Only Natural,” and only one of several songs to be enjoyed over the years.

The things-to-do wishes are, naturally, from the standpoint of a male’s point of view… “I wanna see that New York stadium from a right field seat…” but anyone could make up their own wishes and insert them if covering the song, or just singing loud enough along with the Boys on the CD.

“Before I Die” is one of four new songs on this CD which is being distributed through Cracker Barrel Music.  “What’cha Gonna Do” is a whimsical look at taking the next step in a relationship and brings bass singer Richard Steban’s voice to full maturity.  “Wish You Could Have Been There” and “The Shade,” combined with these two, prove that the Boys are still leading the game.

Their classics are here, too, but with fresh, new recordings. “Elvira,” their most well-known hit, now 30 years since the first release and since William Lee Golden started growing his beard, is arranged the same, but is alive with the band’s current energy driving this ear-candy bit of nostalgia.

“Louisiana Red Dirt Highway” got my attention with the emotion of such lines as “I’m already lonesome, and the tires ain’t even slunk off all the clay.”  Jon Bonsall and Duane Allen round out this group of four who travels with an entourage of about 15 more musicians and road men.

Nowadays, it’s still good to hear a CD completely filled with songs built on the diverse talents of every band member, and with understandable lyrics that can be listened to at any gathering, including great-grandma Lizzie’s 100th birthday party!

I went on a road trip recently, and stopped at three Cracker Barrel Stores along the way. “It’s Only Natural” was on the CD stand in every one of them. It’s also available on the Cracker Barrel Web site:  crackerbarrel.com/music

Meanwhile, I’ve adopted the line from “Before I Die” as my new mantra … “it’s time I put some living in these dreams.”

Brandy & Ray J — “A Family Business” Cracker Barrel Music, Saguaro Roads Records

By Mitchell Weiss

The album “A Family Business” is what I would call a cross album. It has the felling of R&B, Rap, Dance, and some hint of Soul. Some of the songs like “Turning Me On” and “Ready To Roll” have the sound and beat of something you would hear at a school dance or the early hours of an after-hours club. Those are primarily the Ray J songs, but his sister Brandy brings more R&B to the album with “Lifeguard,” “I Don’t Care,” and her parts in the song “A Family Business.”

R&B is mixed with I believe to be Soul in the song “Homegrown” and ‘Sonja, Sonya, Sonia” by Willie Norwood Sr.

I see they get some of the youngsters involved with “My Family” by Sy’rai & Rain Smith. It has a very simple beat and I believe that it shows that anyone can be a musician at any age level if they just put their hearts into it.  Just see what they have accomplished in this song.

It seems they rightly titled this “A Family Business,” not only named after the television reality series of the same name, because in the actual song, They seem to bring all the styles of the entire family, squeezing in every genre of each member, and to show the strength of a family united.

Editor’s notes:  This is the first family album for brother-and-sister duo, Brandy and Ray J, released in tandem with a VH1 reality show with the same name. It is available at Cracker Barrel stores or their on-line music site.

Mitchell Weiss is a freshman student at Hutto (Texas) High School. This is his first CD review.

• The Grascals
• “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin”
• Cracker Barrell Music

By Mary Jane Farmer, Scene In Town

Also see the video of “I Am Strong.”

Bluegrass fans will recognize the name “The Grascals” and classic-country music lovers will recognize the others on this CD to be released Monday.

The Grascals are a 6-piece bluegrass band which has made waves across the nation as a youthful, energetic and talented group. Now, they have released a CD of 12 country songs, a 13th if you count the reprise of one, and joining them were an unlikely variety of Nashville country showstoppers themselves. Unlikely, except that in Nashville, one can expect the unlikely. It did on “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin.”

You’ve heard the songs before, at least most of them, such as “Folsom Prison Blues” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Now, think of Dierks Bentley joining The Grascals on “Folsom Prison Blues” and Charlie Daniels swapping fiddle licks with The Grascals’ Jeremy Abshire on his classic song, or Brad Paisley dropping in to sing with them on “Tiger By The Tail,” and you get a drift of what this CD is all about.

Dolly Parton joins the bluegrass band on two songs, “Pain of Loving You” and “I Am Strong,” then her voice again graces that particular song, reprised at the end of the CD with just about everybody else joining in, then, too.

One of those voices heard on “I Am Strong” is that of a young cancer patient, Ansley McLaurin, The Grascals met on a visit to St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She grabbed their heart, as she did mine with her tiny yet strong voice on this song of hope, in which Stephen Seagal and Tom T. Hall also lift their voices.

Said “I Am Strong” songwriter Jamie Johnson, who sings vocals with The Grascals, “I am more proud of this work than anything I have created in my life.”

Brad Paisley, Darryl Worley, the Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Nichols, and Terri Clark are also heard here.

The only song that is straight The Grascals-performed is “White Lightning” and they also play a new composition, “The Cracker Barrel Swing.”

Guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, all acoustic and blended with strong vocals, capture the essence of both musical genres. Although bluegrass bands typically do not include drums, there’s a little soft-brush drum background on a few of these songs, just enough to take on that bit of country flavor. The arrangements are almost true to the originals, varying just enough to make the songs unique and fresh while keeping them pure country.

The CD will be available Jan. 10 at Cracker Barrel stores or on its website, www.crackerbarrel.com. A portion of each sale is being allocated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

By Mary Jane Farmer

Scene In Town

Bluegrass fans will recognize the name “The Grascals” and classic-country music lovers will recognize the others on this CD to be released Monday.

The Grascals are a 6-piece bluegrass band which has made waves across the nation as a youthful, energetic and talented group. Now, they have released a CD of 12 country songs, a 13th if you count the reprise of one, and joining them were an unlikely variety of Nashville country showstoppers themselves. Unlikely, except that in Nashville, one can expect the unlikely. It did on “Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin.”

You’ve heard the songs before, at least most of them, such as “Folsom Prison Blues” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Now, think of Dierks Bentley joining The Grascals on “Folsom Prison Blues” and Charlie Daniels swapping fiddle licks with The Grascals’ Jeremy Abshire on his classic song, or Brad Paisley dropping in to sing with them on “Tiger By The Tail,” and you get a drift of what this CD is all about.

Dolly Parton joins the bluegrass band on two songs, “Pain of Loving You” and “I Am Strong,” then her voice again graces that particular song, reprised at the end of the CD with just about everybody else joining in, then, too.

One of those voices heard on “I Am Strong” is that of a young cancer patient, Ansley McLaurin, The Grascals met on a visit to St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She grabbed their heart, as she did mine with her tiny yet strong voice on this song of hope, in which Stephen Seagal and Tom T. Hall also lift their voices.

Said “I Am Strong” songwriter Jamie Johnson, who sings vocals with The Grascals, “I am more proud of this work than anything I have created in my life.”

Brad Paisley, Darryl Worley, the Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Nichols, and Terri Clark are also heard here.

The only song that is straight The Grascals-performed is “White Lightning” and they also play a new composition, “The Cracker Barrel Swing.”

Guitars, bass, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, all acoustic and blended with strong vocals, capture the essence of both musical genres. Although bluegrass bands typically do not include drums, there’s a little soft-brush drum background on a few of these songs, just enough to take on that bit of country flavor. The arrangements are almost true to the originals, varying just enough to make the songs unique and fresh while keeping them pure country.

The CD will be available Jan. 10 at Cracker Barrel stores or on its website, www.crackerbarrel.com. A portion of each sale is being allocated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.