Larry Cole is a new young country music singer who hails from from America's Heartland (Michigan). His voice is reminiscent of Vince Gill's though the tone is much more full-bodied and his vocal range more extensive. There's also a distinctive quaver that enriches his sound. What truly makes him different from so many of his peers is that he has openly embraced the "Nashville Sound" sub-genre of country music as well as it's predecessor, "Rockabilly." Unlike other performers who list Merle Haggard, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and the like as their musical idols, Cole has always preferred the sound of stylists such as Conway Twitty, Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Charlie Rich, Patsy Cline, Ronnie McDowell and the legendary Jordanaires.

Cole first appeared on stage at a Ronnie McDowell concert in 1991, having been invited to sing by the headliner himself. The audience response was overwhelmingly positive and gave Cole the confidence and drive to pursue his dream of singing professionally. After assembling a band, Cole played the honky-tonks and nightclubs, first performing in Nashville in 1992 at Gilleys. Soon after, he decided to make Tennessee his home.

Cole continues to win fans and gain experience, and has even played on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. His first CD offering is Lost in Blue Dreams, an album on which nine of the ten songs were written by the artist. Though Larry Cole easily swings to the edgier sound of rockabilly it is still on the romantic ballads where this new performer shines.

The "Nashville Sound" is both an era and a style. It is a fuller, lusher, looser sound than older traditional country music. The instrumental work is subordinate to the vocals and the sound itself is often characterized by, variously, instruments such as acoustic guitars (strummed for rhythm), piano, strings, or horns, and occasionally a fiddle. Background vocals and overdubbing are standard fare. Cole's first offering on his CD, "The First Man (to Make You Feel Like a Woman)" is a mid-tempo romantic ballad showing many of the previously mentioned attributes. The Jordanaires, who provided background vocals for Elvis Presley and countless numbers of other Nashville singers, lend their unique sound to this song and many of the cuts on this album.

The second song on the CD, "Angel in Your Eyes" opens with a fiddle and swings into the rockabilly sound of Elvis Presley, with piano reminiscent of another star of that era, Jerry Lee Lewis. The hollow echo in the background is another tenet of the rockabilly sound. The theme here is attraction and temptation and the pleasures of love though the singer emotes, "I know you're not the devil because there's so much angel in your eyes."

The next cut, "Holding an Angel" continues the theme of comparing a woman to an angel and is the first of three consecutive romantic ballads. It is a song that captures the rapture of being in love as the singer proclaims, "God heard my prayers when he sent me to you". The light, high background vocals (the Jordanaires with Millie Kirkham) provide an almost ethereal quality to the music and these vocals are continued in the next cut, "If You'll Let Me Love You" about a romantic interlude proposed by the singer to a woman whose heart has been previously broken. The third in the trio of ballads is "I'm Loving You," another beautifully sentimental song about being wrapped up in passion with a woman the singer wants to "hold and touch forever."

The driving harmonica in "Take Me There" announces another turn towards rockabilly and, for some reason, is reminiscent, a little bit, of the rock group, Paul Revere and the Raiders. The singer is once again at the mercy of a seductress as he states, "Take me there, where I belong, seduced by your every charm, pure ecstasy."

What follows begins as the most "country" (as it's heard today) sounding song on the album. "(Ain't Never) Gonna Give You Back" rolls into a gently rocking statement of defiant undying love.

The eighth song on the album features a captivating duet with Tareva Henderson. "(He Says) I'm Sorry" is a song about a man who continually breaks his woman's heart and pleads for forgiveness. Though she's given it many times in the past, the day will come when she'll tire of it all and no longer be there. Cole's and Henderson's voices are perfectly matched and full of emotion as they each take sides in this love gone wrong story.

Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" is next and stands in stark contrast to the rest of the album. This standard honky-tonker is well sung by Cole though it may feel odd to some, hearing the song with all the "twang" removed.

The title cut of the album, "Lost in Blue Dreams" closes out the CD and is immediately reminiscent, in tone, of Ronnie Milsap's "Lost in the '50s Tonight". The doo-wop sound prevails as the song's theme of a memory that won't let go is laid out, "I should let you go, but over my foolish heart I have no control.....I'm lost in dreams, blue dreams of you". The song is a nice pop-ish homogenization of rockabilly with "The Nashville Sound."

Larry Cole's rich vocals and musical influences are powerfully presented in his debut album. His youthful zest and charismatic stage presence engage his audiences. He has carved out a place in modern country music that few others have attempted and this alone should ensure that we'll continue to hear from him in the future.

Mountain West Music 2002