During our youngin’ days in New York, the country music of the South had a taxing time crossing our northern border. Not many kids who we grew up with in New York would say Brad Paisley is his or her favorite musician; Jay Z and many other urban artists came up more frequently. As our musical souls developed, we learned country music has an array of subgenres that incorporates less of the Nashville sound and more of the New York sound. Now, we can boldly say that soft country rock has made our “things we like” list. The genre has that southern feel, but we imagine the singers to wear fedoras rather than cowboy hats. A pretty lame comparison, but we’ll take one more jab at describing this genre, which is probably the attempt we should have tried form the get-go. Lynyrd Skynyrd are the predecessors for soft country rock music. Since those 1970 days, new artists have shaped the genre with splashes of pop and folkloric sounds. We had to dig through 40 years worth of music to find the genre’s contemporary successors. The heirs to the 21st Century soft country rock music are Caitlin Crosby and Jay Nash.
Both names should ring a bell, but you may be more familiar with Crosby, if you are an MTV junky like us. Crosby can be seen on MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger” as RJ’s tutor, Amy. Putting her acting chops aside, her single, “You Still Have My Heart,” which was off her 2009 debut album, Flawz, featured many notable actors like Zachary Levi and Robert Hoffman. While touring the country together to promote their solo albums, Crosby and Nash wrote a few songs together. In between Crosby finishing filming the MTV series and Nash continuing to tour his solo records, Crosby Skills & Nash recorded a four song EP that dropped June 14th.
Crosby Skills & Nash should seem like a name you have heard before because you have with the folkloric group, Crosby Stills & Nash. The similarly named groups are no coincidence. Crosby and Nash figured they would take advantage of their famous last names and try not to get sued. They even went so far as to use a few titles of original ‘Crosby Stills & Nash’ songs, while writing their own new original songs with different subject matters. The tracklisting of their EP, Crosby, Skills & Nash, includes the tunes “It’s Deja Vu,” “We Are Wooden Ships,” “Living A Lie,” and “Every 10 Seconds.” With each song off of the EP, vocal chemistry can be felt between Crosby and Nash, sending a peaceful wave within the listener.
The opening track, “It’s Deja Vu,” and the closing tune, “Every 10 Seconds” showcase the duo’s ability to harmonize with each other in way that puts emphasis on one of their vocals. You don’t get the feeling that the two are competing with each other, but instead that each verse has an understood front man or front woman. Crosby’s beautiful and falsetto vocals stand out, while Nash’s vocals take a lower register, causing the tune to fall into the country category, as well as that of folkloric pop.
The tune, “We Are Wooden Ships” further proves how aware Crosby and Nash are of each others’ vocals. While Crosby’s singing chops were more noticeable on “It’s Deja Vu” and “Every 10 Seconds,” the playing field becomes more even on “We Are Wooden Ships,” with Crosby and Nash dexterously blending their vocals together, where a frontrunner is unrecognizable.
Still think their diverse ways of harmonizing are just dumb luck? Well, the track, “Living A Lie” will shut you up for good. Hands down our favorite tune, “Living A Lie” lets you hear both artists separate from each other. This individuality adds a refreshing spin on the EP, but further confirms why they form the ideal duo. Crosby sings with an air of innocence, while Nash’s vocals add a sense of sureness to the track. The two traits even each other out impeccably. When Nash sings alone, you get the feeling that he needs someone like Crosby to loosen him up. When Crosby sings solo, you get the notion that she needs someone like Nash to give her security. Wouldn’t it be great to have this singing compatibility in our love life? We can only hope.
With their EP Crosby, Skills & Nash, the duo puts any other tag team to shame. Vocally, they understand each other inside and out, which allows them to not lose their own unique sound when singing together. Falling into the country music section, Nash provides the country soft rock elements we hear with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Crosby gives a modern twist with a folkloric pop sound. Thanks to Nash and Crosby’s vocal appreciation for each other, the genres mesh well and give fans a contemporary take on country music, similar to what Lynyrd Skynyrd did for fans of the 1970s.
Be sure to check out Caitlin Crosby’s official website and myspace page for more details.
by Lonnie Nemiroff
