DUSTIN SPEARS

                                                              "Whiskey Ain't Working" 

                                                               Independent Release

Dustin Spears has been on our radar for the past few months, and with the release of “Tennessee and You” earlier this year, he took all the signature feels that we loved about him since the first time we saw him play live – raw honest vocals, great lyrics, and pure emotion – and wrapped them all up together in one package that fits perfectly alongside what we’re hearing from the current country top 40, while never losing his traditionally rooted style.

His newest single “Whiskey Ain’t Working,” however, is an unapologetic return to his stone country roots by comparison, but it’s also when Spears is in this comfort zone that he feels most at home which helps him add the necessary grit to the honesty and raw emotion so that the song can connect straight to the listeners heart.

A true classic country story of losing the best you ever had unfolds through the opening verse, but it’s the pain in Spears vocals through the chorus that immediately perks your ears and makes you stop what you’re doing to listen as he sings very specific lines of how hitting the whiskey bottle isn’t helping him move on:

“The whiskey ain’t working, I can’t drink you back.”

“Whiskey ain’t working, I was certain that I would get me through.”

“Whiskey ain’t working, ain’t working, it ain’t working on a woman like you”

The whine of the steel adds a perfect cry element to the instrumentation as Spears admits that he doesn’t even understand what he really did to push her away, before confessing that try as he might to move on, every new woman has only reminded him of her, and he can’t get her out of his mind.

When I think about Nashville’s rich history with country music, it’s littered with thoughts of dusty honky-tonks on Lower Broadway welcoming great songwriters like Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson to their stages as they tried out their newest creations in front of a live audience - delivering songs that are as country as can be and those which would become iconic marks on their resumes.

If Dustin Spears were to make the venture from Westmoreland, TN down to the hustle and bustle of Lower Broadway to play this song, you’d instantly find yourself being transported back in time to moments like those mentioned above.

“Whiskey Ain’t Working” is as country as it comes.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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