Jimmy Wayne is no fool. While the five-year break between his 2003 debut and 2008’s
Do You Believe Me Now? was precipitated by one label going out of business and his contract being transferred to another -- given the fickle nature of radio programmers and audiences seeking the next big thing, it was a minor miracle that the title single hit the number one spot on Billboard’s country chart. He knew not to tempt fate a second time.
Wayne wasted no time; he toured hard to support it, and then jumped right back into the studio to record Sara Smile. The album is named after the
Hall & Oates' classic -- they appear on it as well. It’s a reverent version -- except for the banjo introducing it, and the Nashville production style that includes pedal steel, prominent fiddles, and mandolins.
Wayne recorded the song for two reasons: it’s the song that got him his first record deal as a singer, and because it has been a live staple since the beginning, his live audience demanded it.
Wayne basically apes
Hall’s lead vocal -- including falsetto -- note for note. The smooth
Hall & Oates backing vocal ices the cake. And despite it appearing on a contemporary country record, it is still unmistakably a soul song and
Wayne pulls it off in spades.
Wayne wrote or co-wrote four of the album’s ten tracks. Other notables include the anthemic “Things I Believe,” with its bluegrass banjo and cracking snare drum. “Just Knowing You Love Me” also pays its own kind of tribute -- musically anyway -- to the
John Mellencamp Lonesome Jubilee album, with its
Lisa Germano-esque fiddle in between verses and the structure of the refrains. But it’s a killer track with
Wayne’s great lyrics and the infectious melody that rouses the listener to believe every word from the protagonist’s mouth. Another original number, “I’ll Never Leave You,” is a country ballad with a gentle beatbox rhythm track, but otherwise drenched in acoustic and electric guitars. The melody is instantly memorable; the emotion in
Wayne’s voice is direct, and rings true as the morning sun. Other than the title cut, it’s the best love song on the album. Three full-lengths in,
Wayne is transcending his singles artist status and becoming an album-oriented one because of the musical consistency and hardcore emotional intensity of his singing and writing. ~ Thom Jurek