Onward Through It All

Amazon.com
Jim Lauderdale keeps a busy schedule. In addition to writing hits for George Strait, Patty Loveless, and Mark Chesnutt, he's toured as a backing singer and guitarist with Lucinda Williams while continuing to appear with his own band. Onward Through It All, his sixth album, effects the immensely satisfying synthesis of country, rock, and pop styles that has made Lauderdale one of the most intriguing artists of the 1990s. Whether with the barely updated Buck Owens-style stomp of "You Just Know," the open-road spirituality of "Trust (Guiding Star)," or the moody, midtempo "What I Want You to Say," Onward makes another strong case for Lauderdale. --Rickey Wright

Tracks:

You Just Know
I Already Loved You
Calico
Lost Sunset
Trust (Guiding Star)
Onward Through It All
It's Just Like You
Almost Next To Nothing
Please Be San Antone
Lonely Chill
We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This
What I Want You To Say
The One That Didn't Get Away
Understanding Everything
As If We Would Never Love Again
Still Not Out Of The Woods

Amazon.com

Jim Lauderdale keeps a busy schedule. In addition to writing hits for George Strait, Patty Loveless, and Mark Chesnutt, he's toured as a backing singer and guitarist with Lucinda Williams while continuing to appear with his own band. Onward Through It All, his sixth album, effects the immensely satisfying synthesis of country, rock, and pop styles that has made Lauderdale one of the most intriguing artists of the 1990s. Whether with the barely updated Buck Owens-style stomp of "You Just Know," the open-road spirituality of "Trust (Guiding Star)," or the moody, midtempo "What I Want You to Say," Onward makes another strong case for Lauderdale. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

How to get more of Jim............2002-10-25

What a fabulous album, all facets of the music and his personal feeling come sailing through. For those of you that fancy Jim Lauderdale, there is a fabulous video in which Jim performs with 4 other artists, with many close-ups and excellent sound. The video is called "Cotton-Patch Gospel". I bought my copy through Amazon.com and play it often. It is one of the most entertaining, inspiring portrayals of the gospel you will ever see. Thank you for this chance to share a review with others.

Great, great album.......2002-07-10

Jim Lauderdale is a singer-songwriter who is better known for writing hits for others than for his own recording career. Jim has written for all sorts of mainstream country stars including George Strait and the Dixie Chicks and he is well liked and respected within Nashville's musical community, but relatively unknown to the outside world. That is a shame because he is not only a great songwriter, but also an amazing singer who surely interprets his own songs better than anybody else.

Onward Through It All is Lauderdale's most recent solo album, although he has more recently released a duet album with Ralph Stanley called I Feel Like Singing Today. There are 16 songs on this latest disc and everyone of them is a gem. Lauderdale understands the conventions of country music so well that he can employ them in such a way as to make a song that you have never heard before sound like an old favorite. This is not to say that these songs are derivitive or faceless. Lauderdale singing voice is great and the arrangements are stellar. Julie and Buddy Miller as well mandolinist David Grisman sit in on various cuts, but Lauderdale is the center of the disc. His writing runs the
gamut between aching ballads like "I Already Loved You" to rockers like "Still Not Out of the Woods". His subject matter is often more philosophical than your average fare on cuts like "Understanding Everything" and "Trust(Guiding Star)the latter of which is a collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter.

Unfortunatley, Lauderdale seems to tour infrequently which may be part of the reason he is largely unknown, but if you enjoy Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams or just country music with integrity be sure to check out this excellent release

Quite Good.......2001-09-26

OK, Jim Lauderdale might not be the greatest singer in the world, but he's one of Nashville's most accomplished songwriters. (For example, one song on this disk, WE REALLY SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS, was a hit for George Straight.) There are 16 songs on this disk, and some are certainly better than others, but this is "real country" and not the stuff you hear on so-called "country" music stations. The songs are a good combination of country, blues and honky-tonk. Best of all, there is plenty of twang and more than enough lyrics that tug on your heart.

Lauderdale's Best Yet.......2000-10-21

Though principly known as a songwriter for country artists, Jim Lauderdale has always been a genre buster, fusing elements of country, rock, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, folk, and 70's-style pop into a solid catalog of songs. After several promising but inconsistant (and now out of print) solo albums, Lauderdale finally hit his stride as a performer with "Whisper." "Onward Through It All" Continues to blaze the same trail. The opener "You Just Know" would be at home on a Dwight Yoakam record. The title cut is the definitive Jim Lauderdale song. "Trust (Guiding Star)" will make you lonely for your Grateful Dead records. "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This" was a hit for George Strait. "Please Be San Antone," "Almost Next to Nothing," and "Still Not Out of the Woods" are also highlights.

Yaaayyyy! Jimmy!.......2000-04-28

I'm only writing this because I know nobody ever reads thesethings. But I was listening to Jimmy-jam sing for years before thisalbum -- he's my cousin, and does us the grace of playing at our family reunions. So I suppose I'm a little biased. But I don't even like country music, and I like Jimmy's songs. And I know it's refreshing to hear somebody stick so close to their roots and still be so prograssive.

Music Album:

Music Album