Brad Paisley, 'American Saturday Night'

Release date: June 30, 2009
Record label: Artista Nashville
Official Web site: http://www.bradpaisley.com/

The buzz: During the past decade, singer, songwriter and ace guitarist Brad Paisley has emerged as the most skilled artist in Nashville. Having sold more than 10 million albums, he’s also one of the most commercially successful. The stirring ballad “Then,” the first single off “American Saturday Night,” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

The verdict: Eight albums into one of the greatest country careers of the past quarter-century, Paisley remains exceptionally charming. On “American Saturday Night,” he surveys lasting love (“Then”), bad love (“Oh Yeah, You’re Gone”), faith issues (“No”), good ol’ boy fun (“Water,” “Catch All the Fish”) and the hilarity of gender roles (“The Pants”) with equal aplomb. The ballads are subtly sumptuous, and Paisley’s expert guitar picking propels the fast-paced numbers. It’s catchy, commercial stuff, but still retains enough wonderful twang to recall authentic country music. Granted, “American Saturday Night” follows the same formula of every record Paisley has ever released except for last year’s mostly instrumental “Play: The Guitar Album.” But mainstream country has always been a genre of deceptive simplicity—and Paisley has pretty much mastered it.
 
Did you know? Paisley co-wrote all of the songs on “American Saturday Night,” a rarity among Nashville stars. Collaborators include veteran country great Bill Anderson and blues guitar hero Robben Ford.

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