This Ole Boy

Audio Mixer: Dan Frizsell.
Recording information: Black River; Legends Studios; Sound Stage Studios; Starstruck Studios.
Photographer: Kristin Barlowe.
On his first album of new material since 2008's That's Why, Morgan stakes out ground that's as much rock as country, with slick production and high-powered electric guitars adding plenty of commercial muscle to the tracks. The main attraction remains Morgan's voice, a pleasing Southern growl that brings the lyrics to life, even when they skirt the boundaries of cliché as they do on the salute to down-home life "More Trucks Than Cars" and "I Didn't Drink," where his emotional vocal makes what could have been a maudlin tune into a real tear jerker. Morgan co-wrote seven of the album's 12 tracks, and they're some of the record's strongest cuts. "Corn Star" blends screaming rock guitars and banjo for a solid, heavy metal country tune with a G-rated lyric that manages to sound slightly sleazy. "Love Loves a Long Night," another smoldering love song, is more serious, but just as sexy, while "Being Alive and Livin'," a salute to the extreme sports Morgan enjoys in his time off the road, is full of rock & roll attitude. Other strong tracks include the hit "This Ole Boy," a twangy rocker with a stomping two-step beat and a clever tongue twisting lyric; "Show Me Your Tattoo," a salacious rocker with a bit of fiddle and pedal steel to make it sound marginally country, and the midtempo country rocker "Better Stories," a tongue in cheek celebration of self-destructive behavior. ~ j. poet