Review by Takin' the Country Back

A lot of undiscovered talent haunts the bars on Broadway in Nashville. One of those talents is Paul Pace, who performs at Rippy's Smokin' Bar and Grill across the street from Tootsie's. Pace performs a lot of covers during his shift, but on occasion, a customer at Rippy's will request a song from Pace's debut CD, and that's when he really shines.

Lest you worry that Pace is just another bar act with copycat music and mediocre vocals, listen to his CD and discover that he is, in fact, a traditional country artist with fine vocals and a keen sense of song choice. He kicks off his CD with a song called "This Ole Honky Tonk" and these words: "This ole honky tonk loves me the way you used to do." If that opening line is not enough to convince you that this CD is country to the core, nothing will prove it to you. In the song, Pace shows off some amazing George Jones inflections and even reminds one of the smooth vocal stylings of John Schneider. Pace also seems to have paid close attention to Keith Whitley, whose "Miami, My Amy" is a precursor to "I Don't Want to Lose You Anna." "Honky Tonk Heartache of the Year" is a fine remake of Daron Norwood's version, perhaps even better than Norwood's original.

Pace never straddles the fence here, but he does prove that he can perform viable modern traditional country songs with second track "What She's Givin'," which was co-written by Jeff Carson, and the song "I'm Here with Her." The steel and the lyrics in "I May Fall Again" ensure that the song itself is nothing but a hard country ballad. And though the song borders on sap, fans of songs like Joe Nichols' "The Impossible" and Conway Twitty's "That's My Job" will enjoy "The End of the Day." Patriotic Americans will like "That's What My Daddy's Fighting For," which has tugged at the heart strings of a number of the United States military members. Yet with all these great songs, the best cut is still "I've Seen It All," a hard country song with an interesting twist rarely seen in today's contemporary country.

Before he was signed to Capitol Records, Dierks Bentley performed at various bars in Nashville. Universal South traditionalist Joe Nichols was discovered at Rippy's. If Nashville's executives have any sense, Pace will be the next discovery and will have a major label deal.

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