JAMEY D

                                                              "Boomtown" 

                                                              CCB Nashville

With his last release “Workin’ My Way Back Home,” Jamey D gave us a debut single that showcased his incredible vocals and rock kissed country edge, while delivering a power pack of emotions within the lyrics that connected the missing you feeling of being away from your loved ones with any listener who has a profession that takes them on the road away from theirs. 

He now returns with, “Boomtown,” a song that he’s said probably won’t be the mayor’s favorite!

With the sound effects of cranes striking the ground leading you into the intro, the instrumentation then fuses in just enough to capture your attention and pull you into the melody of the song before sliding to the background to merely sit as accompaniment to the saddened tilt in Jamey’s vocals as they capture the transparently truthful lyrics of greed overrunning our cities in the name of “progress.”

“The money man said this place looks fine

I think I’ll buy it and make it mine

Tear it down and build something brand new.”

Those three very powerful lines set this in motion, before Jamey D then begins to question their true motives while asking about the people who lived there before who will now be unable to afford their rent/mortgage; even tackling the very hard subject of the homeless, who are always swept up in the gentrification since they don’t fit the business model the city is looking for.

There is mention of Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium in the second verse by the usage of its nickname “the mother church,” but “Boomtown” is a song about any city that’s leaning on the excuse of progress to tear down the things that have made the city great; a thought that Jamey D further stamps down through a sad truth in the hook of the song when he sings, “there ain’t no sacred ground in a boomtown.”

Though Jamey D does sing, “I ain’t trying to step on any toes,” in many he ways he will. However, the toes he will be stepping on are absolutely the ones that need to be stepped on as they are the people who are allowing their own greed to ruin the charm of a city while stealing away its identity.

An openly honest song like this is certainly risky in today’s day and age, but it’s also a risk that absolutely needed to happen and we’re glad that Jamey D had the courage to address a major issue and question its motives. Because of his boldness to tackle a major problem that is having such a negative effect on most everyone today, many listeners will certainly be able to latch onto “Boomtown” as an anthem to call their own.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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