If I Never stop Loving You (Curb, 1998)

David Kersh's sophomore effort finds the affable Texan in a much more comfortable mode than his fractured bland debut, "Goodnight Sweetheart."

Wavering at times between genuine stabs at success, especially on the revamped and retro sounding cover of Willie Nelson's classic "Hello Walls," and bland hyperbole ("The Need"), Kersh nevertheless seems to be maturing into quite a talent.

Kersh seemingly mined Garth Brooks's closet for the catchy top 20 title track, right down to copping the superstar's vocal mannerisms. He rebounds, however, with slow dancer "As If I Didn't Know" and the energetic "The Faster I Go." A nice re-shaping of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" finds the Texan in a wonderfully understated country vein while "Anything With Wheels," with its tale of small town wanderlust, may be the song that breaks Kersh.

Merely passable ballad "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" is thankfully overshadowed, most tellingly by the fresh "Hello Walls," making this a surprisingly well-rounded, entertaining album.