Lonestar (BNA, 1995)

Energetic yet unabashedly country, the Texas quintet Lonestar debuts with a solid, traditional CD. The band is particularly interesting because it has two lead singers whose voices are different enough to provide versatility, yet similar enough that the songs still fit together as a cohesive project. The lead single, "Tequila Talkin'," is a good midtempo song about the emotional effects of alcohol. Even better is the clever wordplay song "No News," in which the singer wonders where his girlfriend is and comes up with a plethora of possibilities, like, "Lost her car at the mall / Got locked in a bathroom stall. " "Runnin' Away With My Heart" is a joyful, fiddle-and-steel, uptempo country song. Perhaps the best tune is "When Cowboys Didn't Dance," a dark, nostalgic song about America's real cowboys, the ones who "didn't wear designer shirts. " Many of Nashville's top musicians and producers worked on this project, including Don Cook, Shenandoah's producer. Indeed, on its debut outing, Lonestar seems very similar to Shenandoah - energetic and fun, but not spectacular.