Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

While I normally like self-taught musicians, there is just something about Davey T that rubs me the wrong way. I have no problem with his style, as he sounds a lot like one of my favorite groups -- Rascal Flatts. So it's not the sound either... I guess that I just don’t think he’s that great of a musician. 

Davey T was brought up in a house filled with country greats like Alabama and Vince Gill, and he added Lenny Kravitz and Prince, among others, to his list of influences later on. Starting Today is his third album, and if he doesn’t hit it big this time, maybe he never will. But he’ll always have that cult following that the country genre provides, and his good looks and down-home qualities sure don’t hurt him either.

As far as the album goes, it’s a little too cheesy for me. After listening to the opening, title track, I knew immediately I wouldn’t really care for the rest. His good looks may help him with the ladies, but they do nothing for me. The fact that he played nearly every instrument and co-wrote nine of ten tracks also does little to help me like him, because I don’t like the music... and it’s going to be hard to change that. 

With regard to the recommendation, overall I have to give Starting Today a thumbs-down. While I do appreciate the message in some of the tracks, especially the love song, What a Woman Does, the religious overtones just get to be a little too much for me to handle by the end of the album.