Review by Matthew Fortuna
Among the vanguards of the young country movement, the 28-year-old Jake Owen is in a class all his own. He maintains a Florida-boy persona with a gritty vocal and a youthful vigor - all while penning his own songs and doing unique guitar work.

Owen’s second single from sophomore album Easy Does It
reflects the classic early-90s country that the singer was raised on. “Eight Second Ride” follows on the heels of #2 charting “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You,” and has helped the album to nearly the top of country charts.

“Eight Second Ride” is a live favorite that was resurrected and redone from Jake Owen's first album, 2006’s Startin’ With Me. A la Keith Urban and “You Look Good in My Shirt,” Owen has given this driving diddy a refreshed vocal, some new guitar licks, and an attitude to reflect an extra three years in the biz.

Jake Owen Rides The Bull

Owen’s vocals are easy and rugged, but maintain a melodic quality. He’s raunchy like Dierks Bentley, but maintains the polish of Brad Paisley. With an abundance of steel guitar and heavy strumming, “Eight Second Ride” features a chance meeting between a country boy and a like-minded country gal.

The song features the chorus:

“Hey, boy, can you take me home tonight/ ‘Cause I ain’t never seen a country boy with tires on his truck this high/ I said climb on up and watch the cup that I spit my dip inside/ ‘Cause it’s gonna be wilder than any eight second ride”

The eight second ride, of course, is a bull ride, and the vocals, energy and patterns of the song are strangely reminiscent of Garth Brooks’ “Rodeo,” another song about bucking broncos. The song is in the new country mode of Dierks’ “Sideways,” and represents something that can be danced too – country or not – and the trend is reinvigorating the genre.

Buy Jake Owen "8 Second Ride"

on or Amazon

More on Jake Owen and His New Song

Jake's big on Twitter - Follow him (and follow us to while you're at it!).  The 9513 gave "Eight Second Ride"  less than a steller shout-out in their album review, but About Country Music gave it a little better fare.