''Everlasting'' is the twelfth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

. It was released on April 8, 2014, on McBride's own label through

Kobalt Label Services Kobalt Music Recordings is a division of Kobalt Music Group. KLS provides record label services to artists, receiving a share of revenues, while allowing artists to retain ownership of their master recordings. The company was founded in 2012 wh ...

. The album features covers of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and R&B songs. It was produced by

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the ...

and includes duets with

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot (album), Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/The CW, ...

and

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

Critical reception

''Everlasting'' garnered generally positive reception from five

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At ''

The Oakland Press ''The Oakland Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Oakland County, Michigan with headquarters in Troy. It is owned by 21st Century Media, with which its parent company merged in 2013 after filing for bankruptcy. The local historical society ...

'',

Gary Graff Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author. Biography Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper ''The Taylor Allderdice Foreword''. He recei ...

rated the album three stars out of four, saying how the release "is a welcome and successful exercise in creative stretching."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, remarking how "There's warmth in Was' production and honey in McBride's voice and if the combination can sometimes result in too-sweet tea, it's nevertheless soothing." At ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', Jerry Shriver rated the album three stars out of four, indicating how "Covering classic soul tunes is an overdone concept, but this well chosen collection shines". Jon Freeman of ''

Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

'' graded the album an A−, writing that "Overall the recording sounds great—warm and intimate without sacrificing polish." At ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', Sarah Rodman gave a positive review, stating that the release "finds the mighty-voiced McBride deftly tackling a clutch of pop, soul, and blues tunes complete with horns, a sultry Southern organ sound, and heavenly harmonies from the McCrary Sisters." McBride embarked on the Everlasting Tour in supporting of the album beginning May 8, 2014, in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Track listing

Personnel

*Rayse Biggs –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac (born December 20, 1968) is an American session guitarist and producer. He is also a popular YouTube personality with over 100,000 subscribers. He is a five-time winner of Music Row's Top Ten Album All-Stars award in the guitar categ ...

– acoustic and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s *Vinnie Ciesielski – trumpet *

– duet vocals on "In the Basement" *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

– duet vocals on "Bring It On Home to Me" *Charles Dixon –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973, in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a p ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, percussion *Edward Gooch –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

*Vicki Hampton – backing vocals *Mike Henderson – electric guitar,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

*Timothy Hewitt –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

*John Hinchey – trombone *Jim Hoke – horn arrangements,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– electric guitar *Charlie Judge –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, strings *Randy Leago –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

– handclaps, acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals *Alfreda McCrary – handclaps, backing vocals *Ann McCrary – handclaps, backing vocals *Regina McCrary – handclaps, backing vocals *Kevin McKendree – organ, piano,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

*Jim Medlin –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, organ, piano, Wurlitzer *Andrea Merritt – backing vocals *

Gordon Mote Gordon James Mote (born October 25, 1970) is an American Christian country/ southern gospel singer, piano player, and worship leader. He was born blind. He has released eight studio albums. His album ''Don't Let Me Miss the Glory'' (2007) was hi ...

–

Farfisa organ Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a s ...

, piano *Wendy Moten – backing vocals *Patrick O'Conner – drums *Steve Patrick –

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

, trumpet *Luis Resto – keyboards * Michael Rhodes –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

*Paul Riser – horn arrangements, conductor *

– handclaps, producer *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

– electric guitar

Chart performance

The album debuted at No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and at No. 1 on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart, with sales of 21,000 in the US. The album has sold 70,000 copies in the U.S as of April 2016. McBride made history with the album by becoming the first ever female artist in the 50-year history of the Top Country Albums chart to debut at No. 1 with an independently released and distributed album.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums 2010s covers albums Martina McBride albums Albums produced by Don Was