Single Review: Tyler Farr, "Hello Goodbye"

There’s an endearing story about Faith Hill early in her career.  When she was recording “Piece of My Heart”, she expressed that she had never heard the Janis Joplin original.   Listening to her cover, that’s quite clear.

That story came back to me while listening to “Hello Goodbye”, a single by new Columbia artist Tyler Farr.   Looking at the title, I was curious if it was a cover of the classic Beatles hit.   Having heard this completely different song, I’m struck that it’s so country that Farr might not even be aware that the Beatles exist, let alone had a song with the same title.

It’s a beautiful song, and Farr cranks the hillbilly heartbreak up to eleven.  I don’t know how much depth and range he has to his voice as of yet, but he can certainly do country weepers better than most of the guys on the radio dial these days.

I look forward to hearing more.

Grade: A

Listen: Hello Goodbye

5 Comments

  1. With all the corny cliches out there, the bar is set pretty low for a song like this that actually comes up with a clever concept. I think the premise of this and the Beatles song are so different that you can forgive the writers for lifting the title. I’m not loving his voice, but I don’t hate it either. A song this good deserve a second single to see what he’s got. I’m glad guys like Tyler and Matt Stillwell are coming along with songs that are above the status quo crap getting airplay these days, but that means they probably won’t break through.

  2. Interesting Faith Hill comparison. For what it is, I’ve always enjoyed Hill’s version of “Piece of My Heart,” though I can generally understand why most Joplin fans detest it. (Joplin is one whose vocal style I simply do not have the capacity to appreciate)

    I like this pretty well so far, though the voice may need to grow on me a bit. The ‘weeper’ label kind of had me expecting something a tad more traditional-leaning, but this is a decent contemporary country effort nonetheless. I’m glad you’ve found a pair of singles you can like, Kevin :)

  3. Tyler Farr debuted with a typical, trite country single in “Hot Mess”. I wasn’t a fan of that at all. This one however gives me hope for the guy. Keep up this kind of work Mr. Farr and my attention won’t be far away from you.

  4. Quality song to be sure, but outside of Brantley Gilbert I can’t think of another artist on radio right now with vocals this bad. It just kills it for me. The bigger he tries to go the more strained he sounds. The song is plenty country and a solid lyric so I’ll be rooting for it, but I can see Mr. Farr being a one hit wonder even if this song does catch on.

  5. y’know its funny his vocals kinda remind me of a grittier/raw sounding Vince Gill. He’s gonna be one those artists that certain people will have to get adjusted to, but I also believe while his studio work isn’t terrible by any means, he’ll be much better live in concert.

    I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hot Mess, but I saw Tyler perform in Memphis back in February and he has some cool stuff!

    Go look up Redneck Crazy (no joke) and Hope I Don’t Live To See That Day. Be Amazed !

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