More Than I Deserve (Self-released, 2018)
Josh Ward
Reviewed by Robert Wooldridge
Otherwise solid tunes such as the mid-tempo "Another Heartache" (written by Terry McBride, Brinley Addington, Brice Long) and the ballad "Say Hello to Goodbye" (McBride, Marv Green) are hampered by processed vocals. Similarly strong uptempo tracks such as the bluesy rockers "All About Lovin" (McBride, Long and Chris Stapleton) and "Home Away From Home" (McCubbin, Jonathan Singleton, James C. Chamberlain) suffer from mainstream overproduction
All but three of the 11 tracks were contributed by outside composers, with a third McCubbin collaboration "One More Shot of Whiskey" being somewhat cliched lyrically ("I've been hangin' with the devil/I've been right down on his level"), but entertaining nonetheless with references to musical heroes with checkered reputations ("I've tried Jones and I've tried Haggard/Tried to find something sadder").
Produced by Greg Hunt (Pat Green, LeAnn Rimes), the musicianship is solid particularly with the contributions of multi-instrumentalist Milo Deering (steel, Dobro, fiddle, mandolin, viola, acoustic guitar). Despite the occasional production missteps Ward's vocals and the mostly solid tunes should appeal to devotees of '90s country.
CDs by Josh Ward

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