Music: Jace Everett: Red Revelations

Our Take

You may have heard of Jace Everett due to the fact that he wrote the theme to the HBO series True Blood, but what you may not know is that this singer/songwriter has been around for a little while now and has previously released two albums. Everett is continuing to move his career forward, and has recently released his third full length Red Revelations, which finds him teaming up with a crew of musicians and once again offering listeners a combination of country rock and blues. And it seems quite possible that this disc could get him even more exposure and listeners than before, as it has the catchy guitar licks and overall style needed to win people over.

Red Revelations is equal parts country/blues and traditional rock ‘n roll, which gives each of the songs on the album a high energy feel. For the majority of the release, Everett chooses to utilize slightly faster tempos which is certainly the main reason that the disc never seems to run out of steam. In addition to this, compared to some of the other bands/artists that label themselves as country/rock, Everett’s compositions seem to have a bit more of a country twang and because of this he could potentially appeal to both traditional country western fans and rock fans. There may be moments where his guitar licks sound a little too similar to some of the other groups out there, but the instrumentals still end up being catchy enough to hold your interest.

Jace Everett has a couple of different singing styles and each one often gives the particular song it is being used on a slightly different sound. On tracks such as “Damned If I Do” he uses a much lower pitched country drawl that is similar to some of the more recent acts in the genre (and at times approaching Johnny Cash ranges). However, on others his voice is higher pitched and has more of an alt-country melodic vibe and this demonstrates that Everett has a decent selection of pitches and styles that he can make use of. It all works quite well and Jace sounds like he is having fun on every track, meaning that listeners will likely feel the same way.

It is clear that Jace Everett doesn’t simply want to be a rock ‘n roll artist or a country western singer, and his attempt to fuse the two is every effective. While some artists have tried to merge these two genres into one their material has felt forced, and Red Revelations succeeds because it is such a natural sounding album. The hooks are great and there isn’t really a bad song on the disc, meaning that if you’ve got an interest in the genre Everett is an artist you’re going to want to check out.

http://www.jaceeverett.com/

Chris Dahlberg
July 06, 2009