Starting Now, the album he made for RCA in 2008 after appearing on the short-lived Fox reality show Nashville, didn't turn
Chuck Wicks into a star but it did get his foot into the door of the Music City. Over the next eight years, he worked steadily behind the scenes as a songwriter -- his most prominent placement was "I Don't Do Lonely Well" on
Jason Aldean's 2012 album
Night Train -- and he angled for another record contract, eventually putting out an EP called Rough on his own in 2013. It took another three years before he delivered
Turning Point for Blaster Records. The title of the 2016 LP does seem optimistic -- this is the place where his career hits turnaround -- and the music contained within is amiable and well constructed, the kind of mainstream country that could conceivably be a staple on modern country radio. That said,
Wicks largely avoids any truly contemporary trends, by and large dodging the good-time vibes of bro country ("Watcha Got Girl" does come pretty close) along with the hip-hop-informed country-soul that
Sam Hunt and
Thomas Rhett pioneered in the wake of
Luke Bryan. Instead,
Wicks feels like a throwback to a decade prior, a pleasant, tuneful guy next door who doesn't crank the guitars as loud as
Kenny Chesney and feels like he's crooning sweet nothings even when he's partying. Part of
Wicks' problem is that he seems so nice he doesn't wind up with a defined personality, but that's where his pro skills come in. He knows how to craft a tune and
Turning Point is filled with 11 solid ones, and even if that isn't the recipe for a successful album, it can seem like a good demo reel from a strong songwriter. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine