Released early in the summer of 2010, “Wildflower” immediately showcased the JaneDear girls as a duo to watch. Featuring Utah-native multi-instrumentalist Susie Brown and Texan guitarist/vocalist Danelle Leverett, the duo immediately helped to fill a vacant hole in mainstream country music for the female duo and while raucous “Wildflower” took a while to run up the charts, it has gained steam as of late and is Top 15 at the time of the release of their the JaneDear girls debut album.  Produced by mentor John Rich, the JaneDear girls features eleven tracks with one or both members of the duo co-writing the album (and no co-writes for Mr. Rich).  Songwriters like Deric Ruttan, Jeffrey Steele, Danny Myrick, Andy Gibson, Jeremy Stover and Marcus Hummon have helped the girls develop their sound into a mainstream, harmony-driven sound that can be rock-influenced (like “Wildflower”) or soft and tender like “Saturdays in September” and mid-tempo “Never Gonna Let You Go.”

“Shotgun Girl” finds Susie and Danelle (pronounced Dan-L) ready to party on a ‘Saturday night’ and the melody reflects that.  The fiddle played throughout the song is played by Susie (it’s one of many instruments that she can play well) and helps keep the song rooted in the mainstream country realm and is completely the kind of song girls are gonna love to sing along to while ridin’ in the car with their boyfriends.  “Merry Go Round” is the third rocker on the album and the only drawback to it that I can think of is that the song features the auto-tune production device favored in hip-hop. However it is, in essence, I feel as if this song is Black Eyed Peas-like party song, nothing more, nothing less. 

For all of the tempo-driven party and ‘tude songs, the best tracks on the record are the times when the JaneDear girls bear their soul a little more, like the beautiful and melodic “Saturdays In September.”  “Sing Along” is a radio-ready mid-tempo tune that feels more like a duo ‘Taylor Swift’ while having layers of strong female harmony.  It’s the kind of song that could cross-over as well.  The same can be said about “Lucky You.” It’s spunky and youthful in spirit with a familiar melody that would sound great on the radio.  Susie’s fantastic fiddle playing is showcased in a solo here while Danelle gets a harp solo as well.   “Pretender” has some straight-out-of 80s keyboards providing the groundwork for the first love feelings that get laid out in the song. 

While this album is completely contemporary and very much on the pop side of the country/pop fence, after three opening rockers, the album settles into a more universal, melodic grove with “Never Gonna Let You Go” and the other previously mentioned tracks giving music fans a complete idea of what Susie and Danelle can do.  Female singers not named Shania Twain, P!NK, or Joan Jett rarely have had the ‘in your face’ attitude that the JaneDear girls do on many of the songs and you know what, this is an segment of the mainstream country music segment that is underserved.  While I'd probably have toned down some of the production choices, this record, as a collective whole, is a success and I really feel that the JaneDear girls is ready to give radio four or five singles (the album really could give more than that) and that makes this record a mainstream country music success. 

You can support the JaneDear girls by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.

If you prefer to have your music on those little silver platters, you can buy it at Amazon.