With steel guitar by country-rock vet Dan
Dugmore, harp by Willie Nelson main man Mickey Raphael, muscular rock guitars
and a handsome bourbon baritone, Indiana longhair Alex Williams casts himself
squarely in the outlaw mode Chris Stapleton has rebooted with his debut LP. The
25-year-old rides hard for stoners: "More Than Survival" finds him
justifying his Wednesday night buzz; "Little Too Stoned"
declares solidarity with "a fucked up generation/Like our nation's never
known" while Dugmore's steel blows smoke rings. But "Old Tattoo"
is the standout, dialing back the bad ol' boy postures to address a dead
grandfather, a deep meditation that shows a real storyteller getting his legs.
