Eric Church

Unless you’re devoted to country music, there’s a chance Eric Church has passed under your radar, lost amid that small army of young C&W heartthrobs currently cramming the musical marketplace. There’s only so much work for country boys these days, and making music can be a pretty good gig if you can get an elbow on the table with the likes of Brad Paisley or Kenny Chesney. Against the odds, Eric Church managed that feat, and one of the songs from this album (“Love Your Love the Most”) recently cracked Billboard’s Top 10 list. He’s been on Jimmy Kimmel’s show of late, and Craig Ferguson’s, too, so the momentum is with him.

Carolina is his second album, and it features some strong songwriting and a solid country sound, with echoes of good ol’ boys like Waylon and Willie, as well as the good younger ’uns who are carrying the tradition forward, most of them with the heavy rock ’n’ roll additive found here. The song “Lotta Boot Left to Fill” is an homage to the old guys, and he’s got that right.