Northern Kentucky country singer/songwriter Jeremy Pinnell follows-up two excellent albums – 2014’s confessional OH/KY and 2017’s personally introspective Ties of Blood and Affection – with his third release, Goodbye LA. The latest LP is another honky-tonker that draws upon rock and soul music. Goodbye LA was written on the road by Pinnell and produced by Jonathan Tyler (Nikki Lane, Ray Wylie Hubbard), who was able to draw Pinnell out of his comfort zone by fostering a lusher sound without entirely leaving behind the trademark rawness and ruggedness of past albums. Pinnell says that with Goodbye LA he “wanted to write a record that made people happy….I want people to dance and have fun and love each other.” Notable tracks include: the toe-tapper “Nighttime Eagle”; the danceable “Doing My Best”; a ballad about relationship frustrations on “Red Roses”; the Bakersfield-esque “Never Thought of No One”; and the soulful “Rosalie.” Jeremy Pinnell was successful in making an upbeat danceable album without losing his harder honky-tonk edge. Goodbye LA is one of my favorite albums of the year. – Written by JFelton
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