Do You Know Me: A Tribute to George Jones (Big Hit, 2014)

Every male country singer worth his salt has been influenced by George Jones who died in April 2013; if not vocally, at the very least because of respect for country traditions and love of a fine song. Few, however, have the skills to sing as much like Jones as Sammy Kershaw can. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Kershaw has that whole sincerity thing down pat.

For the most part, Kershaw mainly sticks to the most familiar Jones songs. He even has the guts to cover "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and nails it. However, he also does a Jones/Tammy Wynette thing with Jones' daughter, Georgette Jones, on "Near You." There are also a couple of new, Jones-inspired songs including the Jones biographical ballad "Do You Know Me?," which will help the uninitiated get to know George a little better. "The Route That I Took" speaks of Jones' hard knocks life. The only bad thing about the latter is that Jones didn't live long enough to sing it.

There's no better praise for "Do You Know Me? A Tribute To George Jones" than that Jones would be mighty proud of this effort.