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I hardly listen to country music radio anymore. Tim and Faith piss me off, Vince Gill doesn't get played enough, and the whole process by which the music is recorded and released seems broken. There are bright spots, however, consisting of a constellation of independent labels that turn away from the sheen and gloss that permeates too much of what passes for the genre but seems to be filtered through a New York idea of what may or may not sell. Aspirion is one of those indy labels, and they have released yet another winner with Russell Walker.

Walker walks a line between Toby Keith (“Pair Of Dice”) and Jimmy Buffett (“Cowboys of the Caribbean“), with a bit of Kenny Rogers thrown in here and there. Walker’s self-titled debut is nothing fancy or pretty, and that’s a good thing. He starts off strong with “Talking Dirty” and gets better, not being afraid to get a little loud and raucous on tunes like “Somethin’ Somethin,’” or to express appreciation for the female form on “Oh Linda.” I kept thinking of the line “I'm a great fan of the women’s movement, particularly when I'm walking behind it,” while listening to this fine, fun disc. And while I don't drink, it didn't stop me from enjoying such tracks as “Too Drunk To Be Drinkin’” or “I Ain’t Dropped A Drink.” The best country music lyrics have always contained some plays on words, and Walker continues that tradition nicely throughout this disc, with such lines as “I don't have much of a love life, but I love life any how” on “Love Life, all the while changing things up a bit from track to track without relying on overproduction. On the occasion when Walker gets wistful, such as “Waiting For The Sun to Shine,” he doesn't get maudlin; things, he seems to hint, will get better. Walker’s vocals have a rough and real edge to them; what you hear is what he’s got, and that’s not bad, not bad at all. And most importantly, it’s real.

Russell Walker sounds the way country music should sound, all of the time. I have the feeling that this is the type of country music that Natalie Maines has called “ignorant” in the past: that’s all the more reason to listen to it. Recommended.