Simplicity is so underrated.

The country music industry is always looking to be more sophisticated, but the genre’s truly as it’s best when its simple and heartfelt. That’s what ultimately makes longtime Nashville songwriter and country traditionalist Billy Yates’ latest album a success.  The recurring theme throughout the album is appreciating life and love.  One tune, “Life”, sung in  stone traditional country, speaks directly to that.  Then, there’s “One House Over, Two Streets Down”, a song about the old adage that things are often right under your noise. In this particular case, that thing is love.

Yates hits a few highlights on this 13-track album . “There When He Falls” tells us that even rough and tumble rodeo cowboys needs a cowgirl “there when they fall”. The song may be about cowboys, but the message isn’t lost on those of us who make their living away from the range.  “Happy”, easily the album’s most uptempo song, is about one of the oldest sayings in the book – money doesn’t make you happy.  Because it’s country music, there are plenty of songs about leaving and lost loves such as “She Didn’t Say A Word” and the apology-seeking mid-tempo number, “Take Me Back and Keep Me There”.  Yates honors the long-gone country music tradition of recording a religious-themed song with the final cut of the album; “A Man Who Knows.” The song talks about keeping faith through difficult times, and Yates conveys the simple, yet powerful message, perfectly. 

So while others are willing to go away from country's traditions, Billy Yates sticks to them with a strikingly simple country music album.