Producer: Les Butler
Label: Butler Music Group
Website: www.jamiefarmer.com
It seems that there are a ton of soloists dotting the Southern Gospel landscape these days. In fact, just this year alone, out of 25 reviews I have done, including this month, half of those have been music from soloists. Out of the myriad of soloists that come along, some are very good and set themselves apart from the rest, while others should just stay home. Jamie Farmer is one of those who are very good. This is Jamie's first national release as a soloist, and while there are some things that would have made this recording better, Jamie shows a lot of potential, and it will be neat watching and listening over the next few releases as he hones in on his craft and betters himself as an artist.
The jazz sounds of “LIVIN' FOR THE LORD” gets the recording off to a great start before things slow down for the country flavored, “NO OTHER NAME”. Jamie penned the following song entitled “FAITH”, and is a great song and one of my favorites. Things then move on to the uptempo, “LITTLE IS MUCH”, which was also recently recorded by Ivan Parker and Jamie does a good job here.
“I WANT A CROWN TO CAST DOWN” is quite a unique song. To me, it sounds like something you might here in a monastery somewhere; it has that type of feel to it, and the song is an interesting inclusion. “AFTER ALL, HE'S GOD” is a really cool uptempo song with some neat background vocals on it. This would be a cool single release as well. Slowing things back down, we come to the thought provoking, “HE COULD NOT LOVE ME MORE”.
The Southern Gospel stylings of the upbeat “ETERNITY'S NOT LONG ENOUGH” paves the way for the very progressive sounding, “THEN CAME SUNDAY” . This is a really interesting song and it was neat hearing Jamie stretch out musically and vocally. This is definitely one of the highlights on this recording.
Slowing things down, Jamie does a good job on “THAT'S WHAT I LEARNED FROM YOU”. I believe this song was originally recorded by Jeff & Sheri Easter about 4 years ago and various artists have recorded it numerous times since.
“GOD LEADS US ALONG” has always been one of my all time favorite hymns, and Jamie does a good job before moving on to the quartet classic, “RIDE THAT GLORY TRAIN”, which enlists the help of Calvary Construction Company to give it a good, classic quartet feel.
Jamie has a great voice and one that is very easy to listen to. I wish he'd let loose a bit though. He sounds like he's not relaxed and restricted, like he's holding back or something. Also, I just don't like the cover picture at all; in my opinion, the picture doesn't show how excited he is to be living for the Lord! How about a smile? But, the picture on the inside with him overlooking a lake is really cool though. I would have used that for the cover picture.
One thing I like about Jamie's music is that he doesn't pigeon-hole himself to one sound, as he does several different styles…ranging from classic quartet and typical Southern Gospel to the country and progressive sounds and Inspirational/CCM to hymns. Overall, the tracks are great, background vocals are great, arrangements are solid, song selection is good and the main vocals are good. All in all, it's a good solid project.
Personal Favs: LIVIN' FOR THE LORD; FAITH; AFTER ALL, HE'S GOD; ETERNITY'S NOT LONG ENOUGH; THEN CAME SUNDAY; GOD LEADS US ALONG
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 04/15/2005
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Category: ReviewsCD Reviews
Comments: 2
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James, thank you so much for the kind words, as well as the constructive criticism. I must admit, I agreed with the good and "not so good" comments. That being said, Jamie's freshman effort is one that I am VERY proud of. He truly has GREAT potential. Furthermore, he was a prepared professional throughout the entire process. Jamie has staying power! I'm proud to have in the BMG/FMG Family.
I loved this project. Jamie has a wonderful, clean and smooth voice. He's not too bad on the songwriting side either!
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