In Brief

Texas is as thick with talented singer-songwriters as with longhorns, and this veteran, frankly, is just one of the herd--his poetic storytelling has character, but his prosaic music and plain singing don’t standout. The best song on his major-label debut is Dave Alvin’s “Fourth of July” and the most inviting vocal is from Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies, who guests on “Then Came Lo Mein.”

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https://www.latimes.com/soundclips