Artist: Michael Christopher
Reviewer: Jaysen Gold
iMoveiLive rating: 4 out of 5
With so many high voiced heartthrobs taking over the airwaves at country radio, Michael Christopher’s soft baritone is refreshing. His debut digital effort is full of songs that bring you back to the country music of the 90s. Michael’s style is Tracy Byrd meets Sawyer Brown.
Michael plays it safe lyrically in some tracks utilizing some themes that have worked on country radio in the past. “Song About The Beach” is about a poor working man who can’t afford to take a vacation, so he writes a song about the beach instead. Sun is up (Tailgate’s Down) is your typical country music “I want to go drinkin’ with a woman” tune.
Though simplistic at times, Michael has a keen ear for the ever important song hook, which needs to be memorable, and be able to stick with the listener beyond the first listen. In “You and the Open Road,” a song about taking a drive across country with his girl, the man in the song says “hey, hey, hey, hey, you and the open road.”
“Daisy Dukes” is Michael’s single, but perhaps the most ready for radio song on the digital set is “She Stood Out In the Crowd,” a song about a bar singer who can’t take his eyes off of one of the ladies in his audience. Though Michael’s smooth vocals alone could take “Crowd” to the top of the charts, it isn’t hard to imagine the song on an Easton Corbin record or as a Chris Young single.
So many times indie country records are made up of fabricated drum loops and bass guitar lines that have been recorded using a keyboard. Every song on Michael’s debut digital set is not only full of seemingly live instruments, but in a couple of the tracks, he includes twin fiddles and a mandolin, two instruments that aren’t that prevalent in local indie country records. With flawless production and a ton of great sing-a-long hooks, Michael Christopher’s debut release is definitely worth your time.
You can check out all of Michael Christopher’s music and where he’s performing in the Pittsburgh area and nationwide by visiting this link: Michael’s Website