Dave Mallett “This Town”<i> Vanguard</i>

Dave Mallett has released seven albums in the last 15 years but chances are that if you’ve heard any of his songs, someone else was doing the singing: His own records all have been on tiny folk labels, while his compositions have been recorded by such country-sluggers as Emmylou Harris (“Red Red Rose”), Kathy Mattea (“Summer of My Dreams”), Hal Ketchum (“Old Soldiers”) and Marty Stuart (“Home Town Heroes”).

He’s a trenchant writer. In the title tune of this collection, he wonders whether the gulf between America’s haves and have-nots is really all that great (“This town’s got rich folks dying / Right down beside the poor / Limousines and widows cryin’ / Victims of the lonely war”). He generally sounds bemused at human foibles (“Take Time”) or melancholy over the price of progress (“Main Street”), though he turns downright apocalyptic with “How Much More (Of This Do You Really Need?),” warning at one point: “Gone are the days of the meek and mild.”

No matter what he’s singing, there’s no reason Mallett’s own performances shouldn’t be played on country radio: He has a rich, warm baritone that lights gently on the ear, a lot like Pete Seeger’s in younger days. What Mallett doesn’t have is the look of a guy who just walked out of a GQ photo session, or a factory-direct Stetson to proclaim him one of Nashville’s finest. But a haircut or a uniform can be close as the nearest mall; talent is in the genes. Or in Mallett’s case, the jeans.