Miranda Lambert is one of the most bad-ass country women of the 21st century due to her intense country songs striving to empower women. But Lambert has some new competition in town: Miss Tara Thompson. It’s almost as if Tara Thompson is Lambert’s long lost sister because both of their are equally as clear as strong. The songs also have similar tempos, mostly faster with a few slower songs. Thompson is quoted in Rolling Stone explaining where she draws inspiration. “It’s gotta be really country, no pop, and there can’t be no man-bashing. Because if anyone is cheating, it’s gonna be me, by God. And no love songs” Thompson said.
“Someone To Take Your Place,” Thompson’s new song, is intense. It’s the type of song you listen to when you are going through a breakup and you want nothing more than to replace your ex. It has a faster pace with lyrics that make you want to move on (“Get your hand of my mmm-mmm, wipe that grin off your face. I know you didn’t uh-uh! Little boy, you’re in my way. It ain’t you I’m looking for I’m looking for someone to take your place.”) Thompson’s voice is fierce, strong and clear, especially in “Someone To Take Your Place,” and has that country twang that seems to lack in a lot of country music today.
Thompson is bringing classic country back into a country-pop dominated music industry. It’s nice to see a singer going back to the roots of country when it was all twang and acoustic guitar.
She writes all of her own songs, with every song inspired through a variety of past experiences. So not only does she relate to “Someone To Take Your Place,” which is about finding someone to take the place of her ex and recreating herself after the breakup, but she also has songs like “Pregnant at Prom” about her mother, and “Vows” a song about a couple that got married and people didn’t think it was going to last.
Thompson is refreshing. She uses her songs to combat the stereotype that country music is all about love, fishing, and tractors, essentially, making her stand out in originality and independence. She doesn’t need a man. She is who she is, and no one is going to change her. When songs like “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber, “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth and “Playing with Fire” by Thomas Rhett have all taken over our pop-music scene, it’s a breath of fresh air to get a woman who wants to sing about other things. Thompson is putting herself out there and refusing to conform to the musical society of today. Basically, Thompson has a strong opinion and isn’t someone to mess with.
Although Thompson describes herself as a “hillbilly,” as it says on her website, to me she looks like a cross between Britney Spears and Carrie Underwood but with a more bad-ass spin on country style.
I am really looking forward to Thompson’s new album coming out later this year so I can listen to all of her songs on repeat for hours, not just her hit single, “Someone To Take Your Place.”
Now, please excuse me while I go jam out.
Story by Amanda Johnston
APN 