Whitney Rose: “We Still Go To Rodeos” (2020) CD Review

From the moment I first heard Whitney Rose five years ago, I fell in love with her voice. It is a voice with a beautiful timeless quality, a voice that is perfectly suited for country music, and yet works equally well with pop songs (you have to hear her cover of “You Don’t Own Me”), and she mixes elements of the two in her own material. Her new album, We Still Go To Rodeos, features all original material. She has some excellent musicians joining her on this release, including Gurf Morlix on electric guitar, slide guitar and backing vocals; Lisa Pankratz on drums; Brad Fordham on bass; Dave Leroy Biller on electric guitar and steel guitar; Rich Brotherton on acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and ukulele; and Matt Hubbard on organ, piano, Mellotron, accordion and harmonica.

The album opens with “Just Circumstance,” a song with a bright country pop sound led by Whitney Rose’s distinct voice. This song creates a vivid central character, a young woman who gets into trouble, a woman we come to care for. “They all say ‘Bless her heart, she never had a chance.’” We’ve all heard folks say that about someone, right? So probably we each have someone in mind while we listen, a combination of this character that Whitney Rose has created and someone we knew, or knew of, as we grew up. And it’s hard to keep from relating the songs we hear to whatever is going on in our lives, so a line like “She wasn’t getting any sleep at night” might strike us more strongly during this stressful period of isolation. Is anyone getting any sleep at night? If you are, please tell me your secret. “Just Circumstance” is followed by “Home With You,” which has a sweeter and more positive vibe. It is about wanting to go home with that significant other, that person we are spending our lives with, that person who seems to be able to make everything seem all right, the passion having not diminished over the years, as she sings “It blows my mind how much you still turn me on.” But perhaps that passion has also changed to something more comforting. Those of us in such relationships are certainly fortunate in these days of isolation. Being stuck at home with a beautiful, wonderful person isn’t all that bad, right? I can’t help but love this song. It is one of my personal favorites on this album. Nichol Robertson plays electric guitar on those first two tracks. Then “Believe Me, Angela” features some wonderful work by Dave Leroy Biller on steel guitar. This song is addressed to the woman who is now with her husband, offering advice to her: “Just run away while you still can/Shine your boots and wash your hands/Find someone who’s going to stand by you.” For, as she tells the woman, “I got some years on you/I know him better than you do/And better than you ever will.” Josh Owen plays electric guitar on this track.

“In A Rut” is a lively energetic number, a great drinking song, another of my favorites. “The whisky don’t do what it used it to do/I don’t got what it takes to make it through/Folks have all been telling me that I don’t look the same.” How long is the rut going to last, many of us wonder. “Don’t ask me how I got this way/That’s asking too much/I’m in a rut, I’m in a rut, I’m in a rut.” My guess is a lot of people are going to relate to this song. And perhaps singing along, and shouting out the song’s title line, will help shake us all up enough to start making things better. And check out that great classic rock and roll guitar part in the second half, accompanied by hand-claps. Absolutely wonderful! That’s followed by “A Hundred Shades Of Blue,” and Whitney’s voice is gorgeous here, captivating. Just try to keep from falling under her spell while listening to this track. Her vocal performance helps to make this track yet another of the disc’s highlights. There is also some really nice work on guitar. “I’d Rather Be Alone” is another track with energy, coming from a place of distress and agitation. It’s like she is gathering strength to make a change, and listening to this track, you know she’s going to make it. Rich Brotherton plays banjo on this track, and I love the addition of that instrument. Certain lines stand out for me the first time I listen to an album, and this song’s title line, “I’d rather be alone than lonely,” is one from this album that stood out.

Whitney Rose then gets bluesy with “You’d Blame Me For The Rain.” The first lines are “Today is not your day/And you say that every day.” Oh, we all know or have known people like this. I’m sure you can think of someone you’d like to play this song for, and maybe you should. It is a very cool tune, with a delicious vocal performance. “You’re too good for your job/You think you should be the boss/But you weren’t dealt a fair hand.” That’s followed by “Fell Through The Cracks,” in which she sings “I wish we didn’t live so close/I can run into you on the street/I wish I wasn’t scared sometimes/We both just gave up on something great.” Sometimes good things end, and we don’t know exactly why. This song lives in that place afterward, that time of second thoughts and reflection, and features yet another excellent vocal performance. In this one she sings, “But life is a rodeo,” an image she returns to later in a more concrete form in the disc’s final track. “Fell Through The Cracks” is followed by “Don’t Give Up On Me,” a pleasant-sounding tune. “When you find a thing worth fighting for, you fight until you bleed/That was all that I could think about the night I fell for you.” It is an interesting choice to follow the previous song, thematically. “If I could go back, I would have made things easier for you/Giving you a reason to leave was the last thing I meant to do.” And, yes, this is yet another highlight of this disc.

“Better Man” is more a rocking country number. “I want the world to understand why I’m still by your side” is an interesting line. Does it matter what the world thinks? Maybe it does at times. “I don’t know if you want to/And I don’t know if you can/Be a better man.” That’s followed by “Thanks For Trying,” a song that made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it, the first time I heard her sing the title line, “But thanks for trying.” Oh yes, this is delicious. I’ve certainly used that line when someone has posted some asinine comment online; it sometimes seems better rather than responding furiously. “What you’re selling, I ain’t buying/But thanks for trying.” The album ends with its title track, “We Still Go To Rodeos.” This song is a total delight. Its rhythm, its story, Whitney’s vocals, that harmonica work, and that wonderful guitar part all add up to something special. What a great song to leave us with, feeling optimistic and positive. Whatever is happening, whatever we lack, there is still so much to appreciate, and it’s good to take stock now and again, to acknowledge the good things.

CD Track List

1. Just Circumstance
2. Home With You
3. Believe Me, Angela
4. In A Rut
5. A Hundred Shades Of Blue
6. I’d Rather Be Alone
7. You’d Blame Me For The Rain
8. Fell Through The Cracks
9. Don’t Give Up On Me
10. Better Man
11. Thanks For Trying
12. We Still Go To The Rodeos

We Still Go To The Rodeos was released on April 24, 2020.