JD SHELBURNE

                                                                "Neon Hallelujah"

                                                                JDS Music, LLC.

Though there’s no clear-cut path for “making it,” Kentucky native JD Shelburne certainly provides a very solid blueprint for independent acts to follow.

His list of achievements reads a mile long with several Top 10 charting songs, countless music video placements on CMT, and so much more; not to mention live dates that have seen him not only packing out venues but also overflowing his hometown streets with a performance that brought a tremendous amount of new eyes to him and his music, while boldly showcasing the love he has for his hometown and the love that his hometown has for him.

Upon announcing his 6^th studio album Neon Hallelujah (due out in the summer of 2023), he now teases his fans with the first preview of it through the release of its title track.

The mid-tempo simplicity of the instrumentation immediately radiates down-home charm as his voice pushes into the opening verse and wraps around the heartbeat of the small-town way of life, perfectly describing it as being a place full of corner stores and rusty trucks as he then shares that while some people can’t wait to get out of there, he’s gonna stick around because it looks like heaven to him. 

Descriptive lyrics of the personality of his hometown run throughout the song, including specific remedies to achieve a chilled-out vibe such as rain on a tin roof or a Jon boat on the lake, but this ode to where he comes from really lifts in the chorus as he invites Anywhere USA to scream along with him and honor their own hometowns:

“So give me a hell yeah, and a Amen

For the good times and good friends

We raise ‘em up, then we drink ‘em down

We all get lost, we all get found

When the whiskey buzz starts to move ya

Friday feeling cuts right through ya

That’s the Good Lord talkin’ to ya

That’s a neon hallelujah

That’s a neon hallelujah”

Shelburne has perfected the idea of bringing church raised references together with the bar scene – see “Church Pew or Bar Stool” - hitting on two clearly opposite ends of the spectrum while endearingly playing them off one another to highlight the depth that God can reach while striking the hearts of the small-town folks that make up his demographic; an absolute understanding of who they are and what’s most important to them.

Following well-received singles “Hometown In My Headlights” and “The Road I Grew Up,” “Neon Hallelujah” absolutely strikes the right chord with his fanbase, and most importantly, it amps the excitement surrounding the promise of things still to come later this year!

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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