Maddie (20)  and Tae (20)  released their first album Start Here on August 28, 2015. The album included their hit song “Girl in a Country World,” released in 2014. They are on track to rise to Carrie Underwood status.

“Girl In A Country Song” criticizes the “bro country,” where most girls are objectified as sex objects.

Bein’ the girl in a country song

How in the world did it go so wrong?

Like all we’re good for

Is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend

Nothing more

We used to get a little respect

Now we’re lucky if we even get.

In 2014, the song was purchased 667,000 times around the U.S .

Once you have listened to the whole album, the duo sounds a little bit like a younger version of Carrie Underwood, specifically Underwood’s songs, “Blown Away” and “Just a Dream.”

The duo has toured with Dierks Bentley, Canaan Smith, Kip Moore, RaeLynn, and Montgomery Gentry. They  have 18 upcoming performance dates, many in small venues, but locally, if you want to enjoy their music, you are going to have to buy the album.

The girls have beautiful voices that will make you want to listen to the songs over and over until songs are stuck in your head.

The instruments flow well, making the songs uncontrollably catchy. The duo uses an abundance of acoustic guitar, mandolin, and fiddle.

My top three songs out of the 11 songs on the album are “Shut Up And Fish,” “Sierra,”and  “Right Here, Right Now.”

“Shut Up And Fish” was written about a time the girls went fishing with their guy friends. The boys thought it was a date and started to try to impress the girls. All the girls wanted to do was to fish.

“I was fishing he was wishing

We were kissing

I was getting madder than a hornet in an old Coke can.”

The song is funny and girl-empowering. I love the fact that the whole song is a fast pace with no dull moments.

“Sierra,” to me, is the number one song in the whole album because of its catchy, cheerful beat and its anti-bully message.  It explains how bullies will get what they deserve further down the road.

“Sierra, Sierra

 Life ain’t all tiaras

You’re gonna find out that karma’s a…..”

It’s comforting to hear that these girls who are famous had to deal with bullying. It shows teens that they are not alone. The chorus will get stuck in your head, too.

“Right Here, Right Now” is the one of two songs on the album that are about love. It was written about Tae’s boyfriend and the typical cooling off of romance After a couple of dates, he hadn’t kissed her, and she needed that confirmation that he still had feelings for her.

“Yeah, I see you lean in, kiss me like you mean it

Don’t just say goodnight

Standing face to face is just too good to waste

Go on and close your eyes

And put your lips on mine, there ain’t no better time

Than right here, right now tonight.”

I think all teenage girls will agree that the song is very much like a Hallmark love movie. The girl finds the perfect guy, but she isn’t sure of his feelings about her.

What makes their album special is they tell about stories in their life that everyone can relate to at some point in their life. The songs that didn’t quite fit on the album included “Smoke”, and “After the Storm blows Through.” The beginning of both songs don’t peak interest, and I skipped through them.

Taking all the positives and negatives into account, I would give this album a 3 out of 4.

• Most of the album is fun and melodious.
• Most of the songs are very innocent and show little depth
• There were some dull moments.
• The order didn’t flow well.
• The “Girl in a Country Song”, the music video is a bit eccentric.