Rockie Lynne (Universal South, 2006)

Rockie Lynne has the long hair and chiseled good looks of another guy making his first appearance on the C & W charts - Jon Bon Jovi. Lynne's country cred is more legit, however. He grew up in Statesville, N.C. in a strict Southern Baptist family who didn't approve of any music other than church music. But Euterpe's hold on the young man was a strong one, and other than a stint in the Army, music is the only job he's ever had.

He wrote or co-wrote every song, and if some of them are a tad timeworn (the first single "Lipstick" is thematically indistinguishable from Trisha Yearwood's "You Can Sleep While I Drive" even sharing some of the same road trip destinations) or incredulous ("Red, White and Blue" is a Toby Keith style flag waver that insists - for the sake of a rhyme with "blue" - that many of our soldiers are "well to do," even though we all know there aren't many rich kids in the trenches) there are just as many that show maturity and a deft hand. The standout is probably "That's Where Songs Come From" wherein a born songwriter explains why he doesn't mind the hardships he's faced, since it's all grist for the music mill.

Another difference between Rockie Lynne and that "country boy" from New Jersey: Lynne made it without hanging on to Jennifer Nettles's coattails.