Ian Flanigan
The Man My Mama Raised
(Reviver Records)
Country music is such a minefield these days. It’s so easy to stray, either into falsely earnest Americana or the muddy cliches of modern Nashville—none of which need to be reiterated here. With his latest disc, The Man My Mama Raised, gruff-toned Saugerties “The Voice” singer Ian Flanigan certainly dabbles with each, but overall, he succeeds in a walking a considered line between the two. Flanigan’s album is well-produced (by John Stone), with a clearly commercial bent, but it’s facile to curse it like that’s a bad thing. Suffice to say, it sounds great and radio ready. “Rather Be Country,” for example, does start with the unmistakable sound of a pickup truck engine, swiftly redeemed by sawing fiddle and riffing electric guitar; and just as swiftly spins back off the road by lyrics that lean heavily bro. Yet the song cooks, and the line “Sometimes you gotta get a little dirt on your angel wings” soars.
The title track follows, its power-ballad ambitions leavened with traces of mandolin and its lyric locating a decidedly tender vision of nostalgic country motherhood. And, man, does Flanigan show off his baritone pipes. Lenesha Randolph partners with the star-in-waiting on a cover of the 1984 Tina Turner hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” adding a welcome contrasting color while Flanigan expands his sonic palette. Would that more of the record danced with the pedal steel-inflected neo-bluegrass tones of the gently lusty “Evergreen,” which well frames Flanigan’s rasp.
This article appears in August 2025.
