Throughout the course of his Top 3 stay on American Idol this year, Danny Gokey showcased a propensity to sing modern country music songs from the likes of Rascal Flatts and given the fact that Gokey had a propensity to ‘oversing’ from time to time (remember his bum note singing “Dream On?”), Danny was likely to follow in Rascal Flatts’ footsteps into country music.  He not only did that but he joined Kellie Picker and Carrie Underwood as members of the 19/Sony Music Nashville team.   Officially part of RCA Nashville, Danny Gokey went into the studio with Mark Bright and this song is the first single off of Gokey’s 2010 release. 

When Danny signed his deal he said that he loved the fact that he could sing mainstream songs which had messages and didn’t hide his faith, something he does with “It’s Only.”  With a voice that recalls Larry Stewart of Restless Heart at times and Lionel Richie in others, Gokey sings a message song that proclaims that love can and is all around us from various places, including Jesus and church.  This is a song that recalls “Jesus Takes The Wheel,” in that it melds a message of faith and love and giving one’s self up to a higher power in a time of need. The production from Mark Bright is crisp and never over the top.  You can hear the acoustic mandolin and fiddle in the background while Gokey singls the message-filled lyric in a soft, tender and tuneful way. 

While there will be many, many cynical people who wonder why Gokey didn’t just go completely CCM (this song will likely cross-over to those stations), it’s hard to argue with the first results of his new deal with 19/RCA Nashville.  “It’s Only” is a smartly produced song that proves that Danny Gokey can sing and the vocalist does have a place in country music.  My only caution for Danny is that he limit, like Underwood has, the amount of songs that directly reference Jesus. Country fans are the religious, family type but they also don’t wanna be preached to on a daily basis.  With all of that said,  this one is a perfect winter/spring single and a good lead-off track for a new artist to release to radio.

Listen here for yourslef and let us know what you think.