''In the Vicinity of the Heart'' is the sixth studio album by the American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band Shenandoah. Their only full studio album for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

, it was released in November 1994 (see

1994 in country music This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1994. Events * January 8 — Star, Mississippi, native Faith Hill hits paydirt with her first single release, " Wild One". The song spends four weeks atop the ''Billb ...

). It is also the final studio album to feature founding members Stan Thorn and Ralph Ezell.

Content

The first single from the album, "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", features duet vocals from

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

. This song was Krauss' first Top 40 country hit, peaking at number 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country charts in 1995. Following it were "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)" at number 4 (it was also their last top 10 hit on the US Country charts), "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" at number 24, and "Always Have, Always Will" at number 40. "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" was previously recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys from their 1991 album ''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * Unstoppable (2004 film), ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * ''Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 America ...

'', "Every Fire" was later recorded by

Jason Sellers Jason Sellers (born March 4, 1971) is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with BNA Re ...

on his 1999 album '' A Matter of Time'' and

Restless Heart Restless Heart is an American country music band established in 1984. The band's members are Larry Stewart (lead vocals), John Dittrich (drums, vocals), Paul Gregg (bass guitar, vocals), Dave Innis (piano, keyboards, guitar, vocals), and Greg Je ...

on their 2004 album ''

Still Restless ''Still Restless'' is the ninth studio album by American country music band Restless Heart. Released in 2004, it was considered the band's reunion album, as it was their first release since 1998's ''Greatest Hits'', as well as the first album sinc ...

'' and

Neal McCoy Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. (born July 30, 1958), known professionally as Neal McCoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio. Although he first charted on ...

on his 2012 album XII, "I Wouldn't Know" was recorded by Reba McEntire in 1998 for her album '' If You See Him'', while "She Could Care Less" was later recorded by

Joe Nichols Joseph Edward Nichols (born November 26, 1976) is an American country music artist. Between 1996 and 2001, he held recording contracts with the Intersound and Giant labels. In 2002, he signed with Universal South Records, now known as Show Dog-U ...

on his 1996 self-titled debut.

Critical reception

Jim Ridley of ''New Country'' magazine gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of five. He highlighted "I Wouldn't Know" and the title track as standouts for their production and vocal performances, but thought that the song selection otherwise followed too closely to that of ''

Under the Kudzu ''Under the Kudzu'' is the fifth studio album by American country music group Shenandoah. Released in 1993, it produced their fifth and last number one hit to date with "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)" co-written by band members Marty Raybon, Mik ...

'' and that the album did not seem to take any chances.

Track listing

Personnel

;Shenandoah *Ralph Ezell – bass guitar, background vocals *Mike McGuire – drums, background vocals *

Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959) is an American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the country band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1997, until he rejoined the band in 2014. He reco ...

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *Jim Seales – electric guitar, background vocals *Stan Thorn – piano, keyboards, background vocals ;Additional musicians *

Bruce Bouton Bruce Bouton is an American guitarist, session musician, producer, and songwriter. His pedal steel guitar has been featured on many country music recordings, and he helped reintroduce the pedal steel guitar to the forefront of the Nashville sound ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

*Dennis Burnside – piano,

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

*Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

*Rob Hajacos – fiddle, "electric

hoedown A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it. Overview The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, par ...

tools" *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

– piano, synthesizer *

– duet vocals on "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" *

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

– electric guitar *

John Wesley Ryles John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American country music artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline ar ...

– background vocals *Dennis Wilson – background vocals *

Lonnie Wilson Lonnie Wilson is an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Wilson was originally the lead singer of the band Bandana, which charted ten singles on the Hot C ...

– drums, percussion

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Liberty Records albums Shenandoah (band) albums Albums produced by Don Cook