The path to country music success has been a rough one for Whitney Duncan. In the early part of the decade Duncan scored a duet with Kenny Rogers for his "42 Greatest Hits" project. "My World Is Over" was written by Duncan and also served as the single from the project. Capital signed her to a record deal but after a couple of years nothing came of the contract. In 2007 Whitney was a finalist on Nashville Star and predicted by many to be the show's winner.
Whitney didn't win but she ended up signing with Warner Brothers Records, the label behind Nashville Star, anyway. A full year has passed since Whitney became known to thousands of fans through the show and in that time she's teamed up with noted producers Mark Bright (Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts) and John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban) and written a full record's worth of songs. The first single is "When I Said I Would," written with Shanks and Gordie Sampson ("Jesus Take The Wheel").
Placing herself firmly in Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift terrerory, "When I said I Would" will serve as a fine introduction of Whitney Duncan to country radio. It's four minutes of tempo and strong vocals sung over a pop-ready production. It's almost as if the production is too polished and aimed for pop/AC crossover glory. Don't get me wrong, I like the song (it has a catchy chorus) but it certainly isn't the 'countriest' of songs on the radio. With that being said "When I Said I Would" is a likely hit record given the current radio climate.
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