Reagan Boggs

By Chris Cooper

Though it's become a standard target for critical blasting, not all of modern country music is bad.

Keith Urban turned in a rousing performance at the Grammy awards, Emmylou Harris really can do no wrong, and the same can be said about Lucinda Williams and Eric Brace of Last Train Home. Maybe I'm stretching the boundaries of “country” to include Americana and the more rocking side of twang, but you get my drift. And, not so surprisingly, most of the really good stuff is traveling safely below the CMT/international superstardom radar.

Reagan Boggs is one of those lucky artists who stands a chance of breaking into the pop/country market on her own terms and conditions. Smooth but still rocking, her album Never Looking Behind certainly stands apart in its slick but not overproduced sound (none of those “Shania the robot” bloops and bleeps), confident playing and well-conceived lyrics. Name-dropping John Prine in the opener “Share Them with You” doesn't hurt things, either.

Boggs bucks the Nashville “singer but not the songwriter” stigma, loading Never Looking Behind with her own work, excluding the Jay Farrar penned “Tear Stained Eye,” the gentle “The Way I'm Lovin' You” and a timely and rambunctious cover of “Jackson.” This version of “Jackson” has Boggs in duet mode with Scott Miller — and both have fun with the tune. Though they don't try to emulate Johnny and June directly, the energy is there, and it's loose in the best way.

Standout tracks would have to include “Share Them With You” in its perfectly layered arrangement (producer Eric Fritsch provides a gorgeous coating of electric and acoustic guitars for Boggs' vocal and Al Perkins' pedal steel to float over) and the surprisingly crunchy ”I Can't Love You Anymore.” Adapting some family history for the lyrics in “Wrong Last Name” results in a haunting little waltz and some timeless country storytelling.

Though the CD is a little heavy on the ballads, the saving grace is they're good ballads, like “Everything Here” and “Loose Change.” Tears? Beer? Tears in the beer? You bet.

Boggs delivers her tunes in a comfortable, matter-of-fact voice that never resorts to grandstanding and doesn't have to. There's no faking the sound of knowing who you are as an artist, and there's no need to throw a bunch of fancy goop on songs that don't need it.

Like 2005's excellent Bound Away from Last Train Home, Never Looking Behind is a thoughtful collection of songs that simply work and leave the listener hopeful that there are more artists out there interested in redeeming the country genre by simply being able to sound like themselves.

4 big ol' stars.
- Smoky Mountain News

By Rebecca Hosking

I have just become Reagan Boggs number one FAN! This imagery ridden album paints amazing pictures of love, living and home. She puts you in her head with every single line that is sung from a soft angelic voice that melts your heart.

Reagan wrote the majority of the tracks recorded, minus a handful. She starts with, “Share Them With You,” a pictured filled lyric that invites you to see what she is feeling on the road that she is traveling. She successfully put me on the red and orange highway just outside of Knoxville and I felt like I was sharing it with her. Her strong precise vocals I feel in some cases may overshadow her brilliant stories she is telling in her lyrics. I found myself straying from the message a couple of times just getting lost in her vocal talents. The haunting story told in “Wrong Last Name” leaves nothing for your imagination with well thought out lyrics telling the old time story of secret loves and circumstance.

She does an out of this world rendition of Johnny Cash/June Carter’s “Jackson”, making it her own so much that you forget it was ever sung by the legends if only for a split second.

I love the low key acoustic production of this CD. It accomplishes the task of allowing you to appreciate the stories told and the vocal talent this woman possesses. There seems to be a wide variety of talent displayed in this CD starting from the lead singer on down to each individual musician that participated in this luxurious sound. I found myself escaping to a multitude of places and romances during the 45 minutes I sat listening to this album and was left wanting more. Every single time you listen to the CD you find something that you didn’t hear the time before, revealing one haunting ghostly image after the next. So true to life that I found myself asking was this real or did I hear it in a dream?

After trying many times to find something that I would change, and failing to do so, I decided this is about as close to perfect as an album can get. I rate this 4 ¾ guitars. I would have given it a 5, but thought I might be a bit biased since this album nails the blue grassy, americana genre that is my favorite!
- Music News Nashville

By Rebecca Hosking

I have just become Reagan Boggs number one FAN! This imagery ridden album paints amazing pictures of love, living and home. She puts you in her head with every single line that is sung from a soft angelic voice that melts your heart.

Reagan wrote the majority of the tracks recorded, minus a handful. She starts with, “Share Them With You,” a pictured filled lyric that invites you to see what she is feeling on the road that she is traveling. She successfully put me on the red and orange highway just outside of Knoxville and I felt like I was sharing it with her. Her strong precise vocals I feel in some cases may overshadow her brilliant stories she is telling in her lyrics. I found myself straying from the message a couple of times just getting lost in her vocal talents. The haunting story told in “Wrong Last Name” leaves nothing for your imagination with well thought out lyrics telling the old time story of secret loves and circumstance.

She does an out of this world rendition of Johnny Cash/June Carter’s “Jackson”, making it her own so much that you forget it was ever sung by the legends if only for a split second.

I love the low key acoustic production of this CD. It accomplishes the task of allowing you to appreciate the stories told and the vocal talent this woman possesses. There seems to be a wide variety of talent displayed in this CD starting from the lead singer on down to each individual musician that participated in this luxurious sound. I found myself escaping to a multitude of places and romances during the 45 minutes I sat listening to this album and was left wanting more. Every single time you listen to the CD you find something that you didn’t hear the time before, revealing one haunting ghostly image after the next. So true to life that I found myself asking was this real or did I hear it in a dream?

After trying many times to find something that I would change, and failing to do so, I decided this is about as close to perfect as an album can get. I rate this 4 ¾ guitars. I would have given it a 5, but thought I might be a bit biased since this album nails the blue grassy, americana genre that is my favorite!
- Music News Nashville

By David Brewer

For singer-songwriter Reagan Boggs, her sultry looks might help her get listeners to sit up and take notice, but her heartfelt songs will keep them riveted throughout the show . . . As far as comparisons go, Boggs’ flexible alto sound is at times reminiscent of Trisha Yearwood minus the over-the-top delivery. Her years spent in rock and blues bands give her more rocking tracks a genuine feeling while her grasp of patient country phrasing makes her slow songs ache with emotion. - High Country News

By David Brewer

For singer-songwriter Reagan Boggs, her sultry looks might help her get listeners to sit up and take notice, but her heartfelt songs will keep them riveted throughout the show . . . As far as comparisons go, Boggs’ flexible alto sound is at times reminiscent of Trisha Yearwood minus the over-the-top delivery. Her years spent in rock and blues bands give her more rocking tracks a genuine feeling while her grasp of patient country phrasing makes her slow songs ache with emotion. - High Country News

By Jeff Eason

With a voice that sounds straddles the fence between traditional country and the folk rock of Linda Ronstadt in her prime, Boggs finds a way to reach the listener with heartfelt lyrics and a tone that is both strong yet vulnerable . . . Boggs’ music could easily be defined as country-rock, alternative-country, Americana, or straight-ahead country, depending on the song and the listener. The same quality that makes her music hard to pigeonhole into any particular genre gives it a timeless quality. - The Mountain Times

By Jeff Eason

With a voice that sounds straddles the fence between traditional country and the folk rock of Linda Ronstadt in her prime, Boggs finds a way to reach the listener with heartfelt lyrics and a tone that is both strong yet vulnerable . . . Boggs’ music could easily be defined as country-rock, alternative-country, Americana, or straight-ahead country, depending on the song and the listener. The same quality that makes her music hard to pigeonhole into any particular genre gives it a timeless quality. - The Mountain Times

The hills of Southwest Virginia have produced many great Americana artists. One of the latest products of this fertile musical region is Reagan Boggs. Her latest release is entitled Never Looking Behind . . . is an interesting mix of mainstream and alternative county. The first half of the release is dominated by polished country music typified by modern Nashville. But somewhere along the way the CD takes an interesting twist. The radio-friendly country music gives way to an alternative country approach that dominates the later half of the CD. Highlights include the Kathleen Edwards-like "I Can't Love You Anymore (Than I Already Do)" and a remake of the Johnny Cash/June Carter song "Jackson" with Scott Miller. The CD's alt-country roots are further illustrated by a cover of Son Volt's "Tear Stained Eye" which also serves as the source for the CD's title. - Americana Today

The hills of Southwest Virginia have produced many great Americana artists. One of the latest products of this fertile musical region is Reagan Boggs. Her latest release is entitled Never Looking Behind . . . is an interesting mix of mainstream and alternative county. The first half of the release is dominated by polished country music typified by modern Nashville. But somewhere along the way the CD takes an interesting twist. The radio-friendly country music gives way to an alternative country approach that dominates the later half of the CD. Highlights include the Kathleen Edwards-like "I Can't Love You Anymore (Than I Already Do)" and a remake of the Johnny Cash/June Carter song "Jackson" with Scott Miller. The CD's alt-country roots are further illustrated by a cover of Son Volt's "Tear Stained Eye" which also serves as the source for the CD's title. - Americana Today

"Reagan Boggs has the kind of rich, sweet voice that you can't get enough of. She comes from a place that is steeped in country music tradition and now she's carrying it on. Like Patty Loveless or Alison Krauss, she's a country singer who sounds like one." - Larry Groce

"Reagan Boggs has the kind of rich, sweet voice that you can't get enough of. She comes from a place that is steeped in country music tradition and now she's carrying it on. Like Patty Loveless or Alison Krauss, she's a country singer who sounds like one." - Larry Groce

"Reagan Boggs is a fantastic songwriter, and powerful singer. 'The Graves' (track 9) is brilliant, edgy Americana and 'Mixed Signals' (track 10) sounds like the Ronstadt repertoire from 1973. This disc may be your most pleasant discovery of the year!" - Rob Reinhart - Acoustic Café

"Reagan Boggs is a fantastic songwriter, and powerful singer. 'The Graves' (track 9) is brilliant, edgy Americana and 'Mixed Signals' (track 10) sounds like the Ronstadt repertoire from 1973. This disc may be your most pleasant discovery of the year!" - Rob Reinhart - Acoustic Café

By: Mary L. Duval

Reagan Boggs is a singer/songwriter, a story teller. Her latest CD, Never Looking Behind, is a collection of country/folk/Americana music designed to take the listener on a journey through small towns and life in general. We travel with Reagan through the ups and downs she sings about . . .There is no doubt that Reagan has been influenced by many styles of music. Country, folk, bluegrass, and blues are all represented here. Reagan blends these genres to create a style and sound all her own. As good as these songs are, they probably won’t see much radio airplay, at least on the Top-40 country stations, which is a shame. These songs are thinking people’s songs, not mindless pop-oriented material. Regardless of whether or not the songs get on the radio, this is a CD to pick up. - International Country Music Database

"Reagan Boggs is a singer/songwriter whose soulful voice is dripping with emotion on each and every note . . . Her light, good-time rockers and heart-felt ballads aren’t just ear candy, they are radio ready." - Rhythm & Roots Reunion

She's awesome...what a voice ... and the songs are poignant and emotional without being over the top. - Karen Reynolds

By Chris Cooper

Though it's become a standard target for critical blasting, not all of modern country music is bad.

Keith Urban turned in a rousing performance at the Grammy awards, Emmylou Harris really can do no wrong, and the same can be said about Lucinda Williams and Eric Brace of Last Train Home. Maybe I'm stretching the boundaries of “country” to include Americana and the more rocking side of twang, but you get my drift. And, not so surprisingly, most of the really good stuff is traveling safely below the CMT/international superstardom radar.

Reagan Boggs is one of those lucky artists who stands a chance of breaking into the pop/country market on her own terms and conditions. Smooth but still rocking, her album Never Looking Behind certainly stands apart in its slick but not overproduced sound (none of those “Shania the robot” bloops and bleeps), confident playing and well-conceived lyrics. Name-dropping John Prine in the opener “Share Them with You” doesn't hurt things, either.

Boggs bucks the Nashville “singer but not the songwriter” stigma, loading Never Looking Behind with her own work, excluding the Jay Farrar penned “Tear Stained Eye,” the gentle “The Way I'm Lovin' You” and a timely and rambunctious cover of “Jackson.” This version of “Jackson” has Boggs in duet mode with Scott Miller — and both have fun with the tune. Though they don't try to emulate Johnny and June directly, the energy is there, and it's loose in the best way.

Standout tracks would have to include “Share Them With You” in its perfectly layered arrangement (producer Eric Fritsch provides a gorgeous coating of electric and acoustic guitars for Boggs' vocal and Al Perkins' pedal steel to float over) and the surprisingly crunchy ”I Can't Love You Anymore.” Adapting some family history for the lyrics in “Wrong Last Name” results in a haunting little waltz and some timeless country storytelling.

Though the CD is a little heavy on the ballads, the saving grace is they're good ballads, like “Everything Here” and “Loose Change.” Tears? Beer? Tears in the beer? You bet.

Boggs delivers her tunes in a comfortable, matter-of-fact voice that never resorts to grandstanding and doesn't have to. There's no faking the sound of knowing who you are as an artist, and there's no need to throw a bunch of fancy goop on songs that don't need it.

Like 2005's excellent Bound Away from Last Train Home, Never Looking Behind is a thoughtful collection of songs that simply work and leave the listener hopeful that there are more artists out there interested in redeeming the country genre by simply being able to sound like themselves.

4 big ol' stars.
- Smoky Mountain News