Sherrié Austin - Circus Girl

The return of one of my favorite country singers Sherrié Austin is a welcomed surprise. I wasn't sure what she would have for songs because her last album was a little bit of a snore-fest. This album is a nice redeeming of her talents as a song writer. Since her return to Nashville from New York and the theatre stage she's changed her focus lyrics wise towards the thirty plus female crowd. I have to say this album is her best since the debut Words from 1999 because she's comfortable and has no pressure from a major label pushing her to be hip to the youth like a Carrie Underwood or Sara Evans both whom are hit and miss with Evans continually losing by reaching for the prize with weak material.

On Circus Girl Sherrié really sounds like she's lived these songs personally and with her excellent voice and charisma she exudes credibility. The albums opener is also the albums title track that upon the first line of the song is a home-run. After the perfect verse it slides into a wonderful chorus that is undeniably awesome. I have to say that this song is one of my favorite country tunes of 2011 and hopefully will be everyone else's at some point in the near future. This is one of those country albums that is easy to digest and has a very Cashville sound in the current era but because she's singing words she wrote it all works where many other Nashville stars fail miserably.

The next three tunes are all winners and "I Didn't" make me smile as I myself have friends who fit exactly what she's singing about. They seem to believe they are something extraordinary when they obviously are not according to their mates. "If I Was A Man" is another in the excellent category which is followed by a gooey ballad that I'm not to particular on but it's not a terrible song at all. The album ebbs and flows very well with another highlight track "He's All Yours" that is as the title implies and cheating song from the point of view of angry wife. She picks up the pace with "Bad For Me" which could have been on a Miranda Lambert album it is that damn good. It has the spirit and brashness of the immortal K.T. Oslin who is an artist that is sorely missed by myself.

Sherrié writes and good theme song for that thirty plus crowd who is trying to find themselves after another relationship falls apart for no good reason, one that just didn't have it is all. She follows "Friday Night Girls" with "Sleep With Me" that is pretty much the next step in the story which probably is also following a few cosmo's.  The album begins is closing sequence with the uptempo "That Kind Of Happy" a powerful song about standing up and doing so with your own might not bowing down and falling into another one of those story book love tales. "Streets Of Heaven" is a ballad Austin released previously but does a nice job of re-inventing the song with a little better production. This stunning album comes to conclusion with a Christmas themed tune called "Naughty Or Nice" which is the albums lead-off single that she duets with besty "Shane Stevens". It's a perfect fit as the albums closing number because the tune is so catchy, fun and charming that it leaves the listener with such a nice feeling it's not hard to hit the play button again and run through the entire album one more time.

Sherrié Austin has outdone herself with Circus Girl and even with the minor flaws she proves once again that she's not just a beautiful face she's got more talent than almost every other country star in Nashville today. This is easily one of the best albums of 2011 and almost the best country album of 2011 too bad she had such stiff competition with Miranda Lambert and Brad Paisley who both released great records this year as well.