Comments on: Donnie Vondra – “If I Didn’t Love You”

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:11:18 +0000

I like the fiddle on this song. I hear the Marty Raybon comparison too.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:07:33 +0000

Donnie sounds great.. Guess I am one of the lucky few that remember him from when he was in high school, or sitting out at the family pond fishing and him singing. He had then and has now an awesome voice. From the years at the local festivals and bbq’s to singing down around Houston, he has always and will always have a place in my heart and home.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:16:21 +0000

Lofton Creek needs to get a consistent track record already. Maybe if they’d quit releasing 21 singles from the same album, like they did with Doug Stone’s last album or with Mark Chesnutt’s churrent one.

I agree. This could’ve been a big hit in 1993, but I don’t know how it’d fare in 2008, especially given Lofton Creek rarely charts a single.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:48:55 +0000

I fall into the “good sound, but lame lyrics” camp. Unlike the “bacon song” from yesterday’s round of reviews, the simplicity of the lyric here isnt refreshing, but boring, too boring.

Good write up Karlie, I love the “choose your own adventure” reference!!

By: Karlie

Karlie — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:40:15 +0000

I’d agree with the lyrical cheese factor, Paula, but I think it’s a little bit of the song’s charm. I wouldn’t mind listening to an instrumental version of it, but I like Donnie’s voice.

Loftin Creek seems to chart a song every nine months or so, like Rick noted with Heartland, so here’s hoping this ones makes it to radio. Doug Stone and Mark Chestnut are also on the LC roster.

By: Paula_W

Paula_W — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:29:05 +0000

I thought it had a fairly pleasant (and somewhat country) sound, but the lyric was sadly lacking. Overall I’d term it as “cheesy”. It was hard for me to listen to the whole song.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:27:51 +0000

I’ve purchased a few used CDX DJ CDs off of ebay and I was amazed at the number of unknown artists on small labels that release decent sounding traditional country singles that almost no one ever hears. Donnie is one of the better ones, but he is not alone. This is a nice song and I echo the sentiment that it beats all the pop-rock crap on Top 40 “Young Country” radio. Sadly for both Donnie and fans of real country this song is way “too country” for today’s mainstream format. The PD’s don’t want to scare away the Taylor and Carrie fans.

The Lofton Creek label is owned and run by the father of Music Row wunderkind Scott Borchetta. While Scott is raking in big bucks with Taylor Swift on his Big Machine/Valory labels and just signed Reba, Scott’s dad goes for indie artists he believes in. Lofton hit gold with Heartland’s “I Loved Her First” and would love to see some more of their artists do the same. The gal who is the PD at LA’s KKGO FM Top 40 country station was working for Lofton Creek just prior to getting her gig at “GO Country” and worked with Heartland before “I Loved Her First” hit pay dirt.

By: Razor X

Razor X — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:15:36 +0000

’90s neotraditional country sounds pretty good compared to the crap currently polluting the airwaves, CMW.

By: CMW

CMW — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:00:38 +0000

This definitely is textbook ’90s neotraditional country, but it’s a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the stuff on the airwaves now. Nice review, Karlie.

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:55:54 +0000

Never heard of this guy, but definitely a fan of the song… great backbeat from the get-go and pretty decent vocals with a nice little tune to it.