AN INDEPENDENT VIEW
By: Linda Fryer, BMI, CLA
© June, 2003

"TALES OF THE NEW WEST"

ARTIST: BUDDY JEWELL
CD: TALES OF THE NEW WEST
PRODUCER: MARTY RIFKIN
CONTRIBUTING PRODUCERS:
STEVEN COOPER/DENNY
MARTIN/ED TREE

So….by now I think most of us in the country music business have heard of Buddy Jewell. Remember? He's the guy who WON the Nashville Star show contest, recently
on TV. With that win, came an exciting opportunity for him to sign with Sony, and have an album produced by Clint Black. What a great win for this wonderful talent, who's really paid his dues.

He's been making music for a very long time, and sung demo's for some of the best! Well, do I have a surprise for YOU! Guess what! Buddy has ALREADY done an album! Yep, he got with some terrific songwriters last March, loved their work, and decided to cut an album for them! I'm not sure how it all came together, but I'm sure glad it did. Let me tell you about it.

"TALES OF THE NEW WEST" was cut several months ago, by a, then, rather obscure singer by the name of Buddy Jewell. I don't mean to say he wasn't a known talent in the business, but most of us "ordinary" people hadn't yet heard about him. Especially us "Yankees". He had been
in Nashville awhile by then, and was performing all over the place, and letting people know he had the talent to hang in there for as long as it took. So, enter, the writers of this album, The Coreys and Dennis Kahler. Now, Buddy had been offered other opportunities to do albums, but he'd turned most of them down, till he met this great group of writers. This is what he had to say, in the liner notes of the album.
" I consider myself extremely fortunate to be a part of this wonderful CD, "TALES OF THE NEW WEST". In the past, I've been approached to do similar projects, but never felt comfortable with the material and therefore declined to participate. But when I was asked to be a part of this special undertaking, I knew that I was involved with tunes that were well-written and sounded like songs I would be proud to have chosen on my own. I am honored to be associated with such a fine collection of songs
as well as writers. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of singing these great tunes!"

Now, I ask you, folks, was there ever a greater compliment paid to a songwriter? Let alone, a GROUP of them! And this group, well, they have written some of the greatest songs I've heard in a long time. Very country, very western in style. I LOVED this album!! Ever song is just SO cool! And, every song is special, as Buddy says. These songs have been written by some folks who have more talent than anyone should be given!! I mean, c'mon! I've tried to write a tune or two, myself, and never…NEVER…have I come up with this kind of product!
Well, ONCE, maybe, but that wasn't MY doing…I, had a couple of other folks doing the REAL work. Anyway, I digress. Can I tell you a short story about the writers of this superior album?
The Corey's, Art, Alton, Margie and Sharon, are a family of writers who've been
working hard to bring their music to the world. How could I be so lucky to have been given the honor to hear their work, and performed by such a terrific artist?! Each song has lyrics that move you along with the story, and keep your attention. And do they ever know how to tell a story! Take "Poncho Villa's Gold" (the Coreys), for instance. Wow, it takes you over the rough and rugged trail of this old fella's search for gold, and you almost wish you were there! Then there's that beautiful, but oh so sad, "One Time We Cared" (the Coreys/D.Kahler). It's a heartbreaker! And if you want an up-beat, almost Cajun, tune, listen to "Mama Della" (the Coreys). It'll get your feet movin'. I can't begin to tell you about every song on this CD, but trust me, all of them are good. No, GREAT! And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful production of this album, by
Marty Rifkin…along with contributions by Denny Martin, Steven Cooper, and Ed Tree.
FABULOUS!! With these writers, producers, instrumentalists, together with some
vocal harmonies from Joey Scarbury and Eddie Cunningham….how could it go wrong??!! NO WAY!

I hope we'll all get to hear more of this group of talented writers' work, in the future. It's not easy to promote a songwriter. Heck, it's not easy to promote even the most
talented artist! But if I can do one thing today, it would be to make the folks in Nashville and in all of the country music world, aware of the Corey's music. There is NO artist out there, today, that wouldn't have a hit with just ONE of their songs! These are hits, folks. No kidding!

You can contact the Corey's at Sharomarmusic@aol.com and find their CD at
http://www.digitalcuts.com Also, they have a song on Frog & Scorpion Records' CD project, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, REMEMBERING 9/11. Their contribution for this beautiful album is "On An Ordinary Tuesday", sung by Buddy Jewell. Check for them
on Amazon.com (compilations). Also, Buddy has done two more albums, "ONE IN A ROW", which contains his new single, "Help Pour Out the Rain-Lacey's Song", and "FAR ENOUGHAWAY". You can look for them on his site,    http://www.buddyjewell.com

I loved every minute of this CD, folks. I'm very privileged to be asked to listen to it. And very privileged to do what I can do to let the world know about the CD, the artist, AND the very talented writers! Naturally, it's still only MY opinion….and, as always…