If I told you about a young lady who traveled the world as a documentary filmmaker and then somehow made the leap to country singing/songwriting while based in New York City, would you give her debut CD, Good Girl, a listen? Erin Sax Seymour did just that back in 2007. Despite her exposure to various cultures and ultimately settling in the Northeast, she sounds like she has spent her entire life in the South.

If any song is going to grab the listener, it would be the title track. The hook is in the melody of "Good Girl." The tempo transitions between slow and somewhat upbeat, but always remains melancholic. The main point Erin makes is asking "Was the letting go worth the getting over? Do you still remember me? Has another taken you under? And was the hurt I missed worth you losing me?"

"Signs of How This Ends" is quintessential country. This track is about a calculating individual trying to figure out how a current relationship terminates. You have two individuals who apparently have a physical attraction, but their personalities are too strong to co-exist. The singer is not willing to give up her life to accommodate her lover's dominating ways. I am always amused with upbeat songs that are actually about bad situations.

"The Gift" is another tune with a catchy melody, although it is admittedly somewhat repetitive. The "gift," in this case, is not what you might think. The singer has been dumped, but despite all the heartbreak and sadness, this release was actually a gift. The singer turns the situation around and ends up where they wanted to be. Does it seem like Erin's songwriting seems to focus around broken relationships?

One listen to Good Girl and you can tell that Erin is backed by a pretty decent band. Unfortunately, the liner notes are so sparse, I have no idea who is backing her up. I only know that she wrote five of the seven tracks herself and co-wrote the other two. Her website and the promotional material that came with the CD also avoid any revealing mention of the band. That is too bad, because she couldn't have made this CD without their talents as well.

Erin Sax Seymour has a debut CD that I can easily recommend if you like country music. Granted, Good Girl is a very short CD, clocking in at just under 29 minutes. But there is not a bad track in the lot. If the lyrics don't get your attention, I'm sure the music will. I should also mention that two of the tracks were recorded live and you cannot tell the difference between these tracks and the studio ones. Erin's holds her own in the vocals department. She doesn't have to filter her voice like some artists (who do not really have any singing talent once they leave the magic of the studio behind).

[ visit the artist's website ]