Greenville Scene

Corey Crowder
Starting All Over EP (Special Edition)
Rating: 3/5

by Eric Dusel

The special edition packaging of Starting All Over includes several live/unreleased tracks and revamped artwork (kudos to greenvillescene.com’s Ellen Kelly.) While fans will take the new additions to heart, the new material doesn’t broaden Crowder’s brushstroke enough to win over many converts.

Crowder’s songwriting on Starting All Over focuses on relationships and the familiar questions people inevitably ask themselves: Where is this going? Are we moving closer together or falling apart? Is this a mistake?? In doing so, Crowder’s lyrics evoke a strong sense of urgency. In the track “Taking Back Roads” Crowder warns, “The tables are turning but no one is listening, and if we’re smart then we’ll move fast.” Although the character may not understand what changes are coming, the times they are a changin’, and something needs to be done now.

The songs are wrapped in concise ready-to-serve packages. Cowboy chords and simplified piano chops serve to paint a backdrop for the lyrics but never venture out of the shadow of Crowder’s wooden vocals…and rightly so. Crowder’s voice holds the listener’s attention and gets the meaning across all on its own.

While Crowder’s voice gives his songs the energy they need to stand on their own, it never serves to distinguish him enough from his more successful contemporaries. Fans of acoustic pop will find this album a comfortable and agreeable addition to their collection, but those looking for a new direction in this style will be let down. And maybe that’s a good thing…Corey Crowder clearly has the lyrical prowess to write songs that people can relate to (check out the responses he gets on his MySpace page.) He’s on the fast track to finding himself in a genre that has been largely iterated to perfection by others. Maybe starting all over would be putting the best foot forward.

Starting All Over (along with Crowder’s other offering, Learning to Let Go) are both available for purchase on his website.

Corey Crowder w/ Woodale and Jacob Johnson
July 28th 9pm
The Handlebar - Greenville, SC
$8/ $10

www.myspace.com/coreycrowder

www.coreycrowder.net