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Adam Fears - You Get Me
Adam Fears - You Get Me

- Adam Fears’ “You Get Me” is an album that mixes country and true blue rock and roll into one kickin’ collection of songs. While attending Texas A & M University, Fears formed the Brazos Valley Band with his best friends, culminating in the band sharing the stage with some very famous entertainers. “You Get Me” has an amalgamation of musicians primed and ready to give listeners a blast of country rock that is not to be missed. With Lee Gibson on rhythm guitar, Greg “Fiddler” Holt on the fiddle, Johnny Stanton on bass and Scott Metko on drums, Adam Fears will blow listeners away with their combination of rock and country.

The first song has a rock guitar vibe and heavy drumming comes in later on in the intro to really start things off. The male vocalist then kicks the song into high gear as he sings about things an ordinary guy does to relax. “If you got a blue collar job…If you got mud on your boots…If every Friday night you go to your favorite watering hole. You get me, what I’m all about. I like to get a little loud, sing a little louder, honky tonk rock and roll.” This is a feel good song for any listener who knows what it is like to come home from work and want to just unwind.

The second song begins with simple guitar strumming, which makes for a straightforward and pleasing rhythm. Then drum work brings a downhome vibe to the song as the vocalist goes on about an escapade that he and his friend undertook. “I put some holes in a small town stop sign as we watched it fly right by…We loaded it up in the back of this truck…Then, the lights went out. We were long gone when the cops got there. That’s how it goes in the middle of nowhere… As the midnight air filled up with red and blue…Then, the lights went out.”

The sixth song has powerful guitar and drum play in the intro, which coincides with the message of the track. The vocalist goes on about the free-wheeling he and his friends engaged in during their younger days. “17, runnin’ free. It was all we could do to stay out of trouble and we weren’t too good at that. We were too young to get into the bars…We were drivin’ fast and lovin’ slow. You couldn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know…Livin’ large in a small town. New wings gettin’ off the ground…Back when the world was 17.” It sounds like the vocalist is reminiscing about a fabulous time in his life where he was carefree and did things his way.

“You Get Me,” from Adam Fears, is a record that will give listeners a boost of adrenaline with a country and rock swirl. Every song tells a story, chronicling what life is like in a small town.

Reviewer: Sari N. Kent

Texas Music Times
REVIEW - Texas Music Times

Adam Fears - You Get Me
by Steve Circeo

(November 2007)
Before I get into the review of Adam Fears’ You Get Me, I want to point out that Adam is originally from Texas, but he lives, writes, and records in Nashville. I mention that fact only so you can — if a connection to Music Town bothers you — get over it. This record is firmly rooted in Texan soil. To know this, all you have to do is look at the liner notes. In true Texas/Red Dirt form, all the songs were written or cowritten by Fears.

While the themes Fears explores on this record — love found, love lost, unbridled youth — are well-worn and time-honored, the songs are expertly composed and delivered. Even the ballads, while perhaps too numerous here for my taste, are crafted well enough to make this old cynic sit up and listen. For example, the most sticky sweet song on the record, “Song About You” (the winner in a close race with “Right Now”), is somehow palatable, as the melody draws me in and the lyric flows beautifully, words unforced, powerfully strung together.

You take too many days sitting home alone,
And too much time staring at the telephone.
Add a little bit of crying all night long….
That’s how you write a song about you.

Because he is a Texan, Fears, of course, includes songs he’s written about the Lone Star State, including You Get Me’s title track, which is a rockin’ good tune about a Texas boy who loves to hit the bars for some real music (“You roll a little bit of Willie with a whole lot of Hank, and I think you get me.”) “Running Out of Texas” is a power ballad about chasing all over the state after a woman. (At this point the cynic in me is screaming out, “Dood, just let her go! Cheebus!” But no one ever listens to that advice, do they?) “California Country Girl” makes references to Willie and Waylon.

“Dead End Dirt Road” is my choice for the You Get Me's hit single. It’s a kickass country song, complete with fiddle, with a great line in the chorus: “Life in the fast lane don’t mean you’re on the highway.” Ain’t that the truth? (Take that, Mr. Henley!) The body of the song reminisces about Adam’s younger years. He lives, loves, and experiences a tragic loss that is exquisitely examined:

My best friend Baldwin was the life of the party.
I’ll never forget that call.
They said that he was no longer here,
And I tried and tried to hold in those tears,
But I just couldn’t keep ‘em in after all.

Having selected that song as the hit, I have to say that my favorite song on the album is the one that closes it out, “Rock It On.” Fears really lets his voice fly and there is some great instrumentation behind him, including piano keys that can only aptly be described as downright badass. Rock it on, indeed!

Either (a) I’m starting to like Nashville Country music, or (b) Adam Fears is something special. I’ll give you a hint: The answer ain’t (a). You Get Me establishes Adam Fears as a viable force on the Texas scene. Perhaps it’s the Nashville influence that has this record a bit heavy in the ballad department, or maybe Adam is simply still in love with love, but the album sure rocks enough to make me want to see this guy’s live show. Hey, maybe my wife will actually go with me to that one!


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