Big Thinkin'

Wayne plays good-natured, low-key honky tonk country, singing in a low and gruff, though not gravelly, voice. There's not much to make this stand out from the pack of earthy honky tonk discs from the past, present, and most likely future, but he does have an affable manner and, sometimes, a good sense of humor. That especially comes to the fore on "If That's Country," in which he really sticks it to all those Nashville pseudo-urban cowboys singing MOR pop and trying to pass themselves off as real country singers, with a tune not far removed from Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." "You can kick my Ozark ass if that's country," he pronounces, and as a native of Springfield, MO, he's entitled. Elsewhere there's some sad balladry ("I'm Back (And Lonelier Than Ever)"), nearly rockin' up-tempo stuff, hoe-down near-bluegrass ("The Temptress's Smile"), a pretty good title phrase for "We Never Killed Each Other (But Didn't We Try?)," and a drawn-out narrative of drawn-out love on the six-and-a-half-minute "Ralene Wheeler."