Release Parties

 

JENNIFER HART

1992 Release Party!

w/ John Morgan, Andrew Beason, Kennedy Scott, and Sean Kennedy

Thursday October 6, 2022

@ Assembly Food Hall in Nashville, TN

(Review By: Jeffrey Kurtis/Photo Credit: Robby Stevens)

Songwriter rounds happen every night in Nashville. However, there are very few that create such an electric atmosphere that theirs feel like a monumental event - something you don’t want to miss and kick yourself when you do.

That’s exactly what The Nash News has created every Thursday night inside the South Hall of the vast Assembly Food Hall at the incredible Fifth +  Broadway complex. Certain aspects that you can always count on at one of their rounds is top-notch emerging talent, stellar vocalists, and hit makers who wrote the songs you sing along with on radio.

Occasionally, their rounds will also become the official host for an incredible must-see event as advertised, which is exactly what they were on this night as they welcomed Jennifer Hart’s release party for her debut EP 1992.

Bookended by rounds that featured her friends and co-writers, Sean Kennedy, John Morgan, Kennedy Scott, and Andrew Beason, each writer certainly held their own and brought their distinctive uniqueness to the stage:

Sean Kennedy with his UK influenced pop laden sound as he leaned into his newest original material including “Thinking of You.” 

Kennedy Scott with a traditional country aura that shined on poignant songs that pulled from real life such as “Mary Magdalene,” a song she said to be inspired by her own brother struggling with an addiction to opioids.

Andrew Beason, a songwriter with modern vibes that he pushed into his naturally gifted soulful country as he showed on “Life Ain’t A Truck” and the groove along feel of “More of the Same.”

John Morgan, the hit making songwriter who is currently on the road with Jason Aldean, which makes sense as he is the writer on (and played them during his set) “Trouble With a Heartbreak” and “If I Didn’t Love You.”

However, this night was all about celebrating Jennifer Hart.

The Gilbert, Arizona native, who now calls Nashville home, broke through when her song “Half The Man” achieved viral status, racking up over 20 million views on TikTok, more than 12 million spins on Spotify, and almost 6 million views on YouTube.

Now with a label deal through RECORDS Nashville, Hart has pulled together her strong 90s country influences with a fresh, modern infused pop country sound to deliver her life in an EP through 5 brand-new songs and two different versions of her breakthrough hit, “Half The Man.” 

We got our first taste of Jennifer Hart on this night when she performed duets with each of the writers during the opening round.

With Andrew Beason, they leaned into the softer paced, haunting melody of “Unlonely,” which was perfectly accented by the blue hue that the lights were showering the stage with as Hart’s more mellow toned vocals solidified the pacing of the song, as Beason injected a fury through his booming voice as they then smashed into one another in the chorus to lift the song to incredible heights together.

The amazing “I Can Bet On You” with John Morgan, gave us a slower paced, emotionally charged song that sang us through the simple, sure bets you can always count on in life throughout the verses, only to twist into the heart wrenching chorus where each of their vocals melded together to give us the female and male perspectives as they pulled us through the broken hearted memories of what could have been, wrapping into the sure bet idea of being in a bar, drinking them away, etc.

The 8 o’clock hour, however, saw Jennifer Hart surrounded by her full band as she opened her diary and took the crowd straight into the pictures of her life, playing the entire EP, a few new tunes, and a well-placed cover to give us a full spectrum view of who she is.

With a 1-2-3 count in from the drummer, Jennifer dove right into her set with “Hearts Done Breakin’,” Immediately getting the crowd singing along with the recent single as they bopped in rhythm with the groove as she swayed back and forth, center stage, allowing her voice to radiate across the Assembly Food Hall as she hit the “I’m over you” lyrics with all the proper amount of sass and attitude they called for.

“My parents are in the audience tonight all the way from Arizona,” Hart said with a smile as the audience cheered. “And I kind of wrote this next song for my mom, but not really…..it does have her name – mom – in the title though,” she finished with a laugh as she played the first of three new songs, “My Mom Thinks I’m Cool,” leaning into a groove heavy, tempo driven melody as she took us on a reminiscing journey through all the different things you do to try and fit in when you’re in high school, but epically fail at, thus reasoning with yourself that at least, “hey, my mom thinks I’m cool.” 

Slowing the pace, Hart allowed her incredible songwriting prowess to shine on “WWJD” as she painted the picture of herself as a good person through several different churchy type references in the verses, before punching into the chorus where we find her right on the edge of cracking as she asks “WWJD” while she’s sitting in a bar bearing witness to her man cheating on her while her heart is breaking.

“This song is really special for me,” began Hart. “It’s the one that kind of started it all for me…and I wrote this about my dad,” she said thankfully while looking at him. “Sing along if you know it! If you don’t know it, then pretend to sing along! And if you know somebody that’s getting married…” she plugged slyly as she performed her breakthrough hit “Half The Man,” bringing the otherwise loud and rowdy crowd to a stunned silence as she wrapped her voice into lyrics that perfectly suit the daddy-daughter dance moment of a wedding reception.

As the guitars dropped into a gritty tone, they allowed Jennifer to lean into more of a sultry side on “Spin The Bottle,” before she transported us to a warm, Spanish kissed island vibe on “Como Se Dice,” two more new songs that acted as a brilliant showcase of what’s still to come from Jennifer Hart as her next chapter is clearly already in the works.

“This is one of my all-time favorite songs by Mr. Tim McGraw, so if you know it, sing along with me,” Hart encouraged as she sat on a stool center stage and delivered an incredible version of “Don’t Take the Girl,” the first number one song of Tim McGraw’s illustrious career.

“This was the first song we put out from my EP, and I wrote it about the drummer,” Hart said looking at her husband with that special lust only blissful couples get. “It’s about wishing you met your person sooner, so that you could love them even longer,” she finished as she once again had the whole crowd singing along with “18” as camera’s flashed across the room capturing the moment on film.

Teetering on a rock kissed edge, Hart showed off an entirely different side of who she is with “Burned Out” as it’s moody instrumentation leaned into the frustration vibe of the lyrics, accenting them perfectly as Hart took her vocals to a new range that brought fuel to the song as she transparently confessed that she’s burned out on where the relationship is now in comparison to where it was when it first started out.

“We called this EP 1992 cause that’s the year I was born, but not only that….I feel like this EP really represents who I am as a person,” she explained as she graciously thanked everyone for coming out as she rounded out the night with the autobiographical “1992,” metaphorically closing her diary to a tremendous ovation from the crowd as she took one final bow before exiting the stage.

FULL SET LIST

1) Heart’s Done Breakin’

2) My Mom Thinks I’m Cool  

3) WWJD

4) Half The Man

5) Spin The Bottle

6) Como Se Dice

7) Don’t Take the Girl

8) 18

9) Burned Out

10) 1992

 Do you like what you're reading on Today's Country Magazine? Donate today by clicking HERE

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 Today's Country Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.