Chris Young.
Giving you the music a day early:
OK, country musician Chris Young was introduced to fame mainly because he won the country version of American Idol, Nashville Star. But the man’s a rising country star because when he sings “But watching your baby-blue eyes/Dancing in the candlelight glow/All I can think about/Is getting you home” (from the No. 1 country hit “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)”) he melts every little country girl’s heart. With the second single from Young’s sophomore album, the title track “The Man I Want to Be,” racing up the charts, Young appears to be one of a handful of country reality music stars with staying power, joining Carrie Underwood. A special acoustic appearance by Young will headline an event titled Homegrown Country Show at Clear Channel Metroplex to benefit the children at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, including Little Rock country singer/songwriter Ryan Couron, Sherwood country musician David Byrnes and Beebe Southern rock-flavored country act Luke Williams Band. Tickets are $10 advance and $15 at the door with the music starting at 7 p.m.
Media outlets from online heavyweights Stereogum and Pitchfork to alternative weeklies such as Dallas Observer to mainstream magazines such as Entertainment Weekly have called the emo synthpop of Adam Young’s musical project Owl City a rip-off of Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard’s electronica pop side project The Postal Service. And what exactly does Young mean with lyrics such as “It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay awake when I’m asleep” from the No. 1 hit “Fireflies”? You know what? Who cares? Young’s music makes a certain segment of the population happy. So many people happy that Owl City’s Revolution Music Room visit with fellow synthpop artist Lights and Russellville sparkling indie rock act Deas Vail has been sold out for weeks. (But you can catch the shimmering music of Deas Vail on the Vans Warped Tour in August.) So Owl City’s music is derivative. Gibbard’s no longer an indie idol; Death Cab for Cutie wrote a freaking tune for freaking Twilight! P.S. If you do have tickets, the show starts at 7 p.m.
Here’s Chris Young singing about that black dress:
Tags: Chris Young, Clear Channel Metroplex, Deas Vail, Lights, Owl City, Revolution Music Room, Ryan Couron