As a fellow Virginian, I can say that this release does remind me of home, something like a nice mellow Virginia summer evening. Pleasing vocals, laid back guitar work, some well placed piano tinkling, all good things, reminds me a little of another Virginian named Bruce Hornsby; but more of Counting Crows, or Hootie, or James Taylor. For many, these names carry a negative connotation at best, but I would contend that has more to do with the amount of notoriety they received, or airplay saturation, or some such thing, since at the core, they are all tremendous songwriters who can regularly accomplish the very difficult task of creating a hook that absolutely refuses to get out of the listener’s head. Virginia Coalition accomplishes this as well, both at medium to up tempos and the occasional ballad, such as “Not Scared,” which deserves repeat rotations on most pop radio.
-- William Carey [March 31, 2008]
