When I first heard the opening notes of Ashton Shepherd’s debut single, “Takin’ Off This Pain”, I was taken aback by the sharp and twangy voice that I was hearing. Her unique voice combined with an intriguing song was refreshing and exciting. Unfortunately, I was well aware that this unabashedly country sounding song would not be fully embraced by country radio, though it did make it as far as #20 on the charts.
Her follow up single, “Sounds So Good”, is a more mainstream sounding song that relies more heavily on strong melody than lyrical strength. This is not to say, however, that it isn’t a great song. As another song that will fit nicely on the summer play list, it is a celebration of the memories that are often elicited by the sounds with which they are associated: “’Cause there ain’t nothin’ like the sound Of a cooler slushin’ on the bed ‘a yo’ truck/And ain’t nothin’ like the sound of real country music/C’mon, turn it up/And I love to hear the whippoorwill sing any night/And the crickets out in the woods/Don’t it feel so right/Don’t it sound so good?”
Here’s hoping that Ashton Shepherd will enjoy some much deserved success with this song so that we can continue to hear her voice for many years to come.
Written by Ashton Shepherd
Grade: A-
Listen: Sounds So Good
Buy: Sounds So Good
While I loved “Takin’ Off This Pain”, it’s not even close to the best on her album. Neither is “Sounds So Good” but it may be the most radio friendly so it was a good choice for a single. Hopefully it’ll do better that TOTP did.
Hopefully this will do well! I absolutely love the line “I love to hear the sound of coolers slushing on the bed of your truck.”
I agree with Jordan. This isn’t near the best song on the CD, but its a great radio single. Hopefully country radio will give a woman besides Carrie or Taylor a chance at the top 10.
Although “Takin Off This Pain” should have been a smash hit on radio the foolish programmers that ignored it made sure that didn’t happen. KKGO “GO Country” 105.1 FM here is Los Angeles was one of those radio stations in spite of my repeated phone call requests, email requests, and I even gave the morning drive time DJ an official DJ single of the song I bought on ebay in hopes he might give it a spin. Sadly the program director rules with an iron fist and if songs aren’t “approved” they don’t make it into the computer system which they play their songs from. KKGO played Star De Azlan’s “She’s Pretty” quite a bit, so ignoring Ashton just gets chalked up to short sightedness or poor taste…
“Takin Off This Pain” grabbed my attention the same way “Redneck Woman” did when I first heard these songs. Gutsy and unique with interesting lyrics, great melodies and some real hooks mixed in. I became an instant Ashton fan and purchased multiple copies of her debut CD the day it came out so I could share it with friends overseas. When Ashton performs on the Grand Ole Opry (like she did a couple of weeks ago) she puts even more power and intensity into her vocals and blows me away every time…..
Sadly it seems that Top 40 mainstream country radio has lost interest in Gretchen Wilson and they likely lump Ashton into the same musical category bin to be left on the shelf. With all the success of, and attention on, artists like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift these days, with their frothy pop-rock cotton candy country, it seems a truly unique and totally “country” artist like Ashton wll have a real uphill baattle to break down the “stupidity barrier” of Top 40 country radio programmers……..
I’ll be so bummed if this doesn’t become a hit. I agree that it’s probably Ashton’s best shot for a hit off of this album, and it definitely is perfect for summer.
I just watched the music video for the first time and I think I just fell in love with this song. I got a feeling listening to it that I haven’t had since, well I don’t remember the last time I felt like this for a song, it’s been a while. If this doesn’t become a hit I’ll lose any faith I have left in country radio (the faith stayed alive when “Stay” made top 5)
I really like the song “Sounds So Good” I jam to it in my head every time i hear it ):
Never really liked Ashton’s voice, but “Sounds So Good” sounded so good that it beat the odds and I ended up really liking it.