“it’s just something unfamiliar in the bubble and for people inside the bubble . most recent example is Hunter Hayes , who co-wrote the whole album , played every instrument & co-produced it and of course putting his vocals on the tracks . ”

Exactly, meme. I thought of HH immediately. To me, this is a sign that the label believes Casey J has the talent to write, perform and produce.

Ah, but the label did put out quite a bit of $$ to hire a whole stable of well-established, expensive writers to work with Casey. The Warrens, Terry McBride, Aimee Mayo, Brett James, Brice Long, Patrick Davis – all of these peeps are well known in country music. And that’s not even mentioning songs that didn’t make the album – written with Oscar winner, Tom Davis and Delbert McClinton & “Big Al” Anderson and Sugarland’s Kristen Bush 

It is certainly not a bad thing to keep costs down. I hope they have really kept costs low. The less expenses you incur for the label the less you have to make up for it with sales at the end of the day. 

It all has to do with the money.

I wouldn’t say the guy has a lot of star power.  I’ve pretty much forgotten he existed, and that was WHILE he was on the show. LOL. Oh yeah. Casey. That’s the one that hasn’t performed yet!  Is he being handled differently than other artists from the show?  Interesting question. Producing doesn’t seem all that weird. It feels like when Crystal was allowed to record all her old [and IMO too old] songs without co-writers. I had the feeling they were ‘dumping’ the album back then. It was cheap for them, and frankly they didn’t seem to care. So I don’t know that this means that Sony Nashville is all HE’S A STAR! Certainly he’s being given more time to cook an album. The real test will be in his promotion. 

That said, I do like his single and I wish him luck.  

I think if you would go look at a lot of country artists who are new they are given a lot of freedom and control. This isnt pop music and like I said casey is a fully formed artist not a 15 yearold kid who didnt know what he wanted

I’ve always loved Casey, and when he was on the show it was because of that guitar. I didn’t care if he sang or screeched.

But I have to agree with those who say his singing has improved. He sounds really good. And really marketable. I think “Love the Way You Miss Me” might have legs.

It feels like when Crystal was allowed to record all her old [and IMO too old] songs without co-writers. I had the feeling they were ‘dumping’ the album back then. It was cheap for them, and frankly they didn’t seem to care. 

The only thing Casey and Crystal has in common is that they both happened to be on the same season of AI. There is no comparisons in the real music industry. For one Crystal is female (which means she already has a host of different issues in some genres), she was singed to Jive who didn’t exactly know where to market her. They wanted to market her to HAC and Crystal is more AAA. Jive made her finish her album as quickly as possible, they released two singles half-heartliy because they couldn’t agree on the singles. They are not even in the same genre so it pointless to compare. And I am pretty sure if we asked Crystal today if she regrets putting out her own music, she will not regret it in any way. That is who she is as an artists. Casey is straight forwardly a country artists, who have taken two years to produce an album, which again is pretty normal for any new country artists. If BNA completely didn’t care they could have made Casey release an album just after he was on idol. Things move slowly in country a new artists needs time to establish himself, that is how the country market works, many new artists are given a lot of time to develop themselves, it is not uncommon in country. They have released a single for Casey in August last year, and they are behind the single (see Aircheck adds ext.). They have calculated the time of Casey’s album release for when his single is most likely projected to be in the top 30, again that is pretty standard for new country artists. And currently as things stand, Casey is the new artists that is doing the best on the charts between all of BNA/ Columbia’s new artists (not that it is some kind of competition). That is what it is all about, the label needs to know that you have potential with radio, and that radio are going to play you because that is where they are going to market you in the future. If radio doesn’t want to play your music, then you dont have a future. But it takes time in country to built up that credit. Someone like David Nail would be seen as a complete failure sales wise in idol terms, he sold 12k his first week but he has just had a no. 1 hit. On the other hand I bet someone like Kellie Pickler could actually outsell David Nail, but her last two singles peaked at #30 on the charts, and that is causing her much more problems then album sales. However, BNA is still very much behind her. If a label thinks you thinks you have potential with radio, then they will be behind you. It would be the same for Casey he needs to prove to BNA that radio likes him and that they are interested in playing his music in the future, which again is the same with any new artists. The same is basically true for anyone who comes from idol.

Except that Casey has no track record to speak of. He really hasn’t proven himself in the marketplace – as a producer, as a writer or even as a performer.  So for his label to just hand over all this control seems suspect. 

You dont need a track record, country artists are given a bit more freedom with things like production and instruments. Hunter Hayes is a 21 year old new artist who produced his own album and played all of the instruments on his album. It depends more on what type of artist you are. As Windmills has said Casey properly has specific idea for his music and how it should sound, and that is most likely how the co-producing came about. Casey isn’t just about laying vocals, a big part of his music is the instrumental part.  It they can keep costs lower at the same time why not? The less expenses you incur for you label, the more profits they will have. 

Source please?

Casey himself, Gary Overton and A&R people from Sony. It has been posted and discussed here more then often enough. You can take my word for it, or you dont have too.

All I can say about the situation regarding Casey co-producing his album is that he knows what he wants and the label simply trusts in him enough to let him have some control of how the album ends up sounding. Everyone above me said it better than I ever could!

I hope you’re wrong about Casey not being invited to perform on Idol this year.  I think that would be a tremendous opportunity to show everyone that Season 9 wasn’t the complete washout they paint it to be.  The fact that so much has changed on Idol might not work in Casey’s favour.  I still hold the hope that Randy and Ryan are enough of a connection to Season 9 and that they give Casey a shot at the huge audience that watches Idol.

I may be naive, but I can’t imagine him not breaking big.  Love his jazzy, bluesy take on country.  He is a super skilled guitar player and it is so fun to watch how much he loves to play. 

Well this is exciting! I’ve always loved Casey’s voice with a little grit and no surprise, I love Workin On It and Drive!  On the other hand, Miss Your Fire is absolutely stunning. It sounds like something Nickel Creek would do, sort of blue grass-y and a totally different flavor of Casey.