My Kind of Country

Let’s state it plain: Johnny and Donnie Van Zant don’t need to prove their rebel credentials to anybody. As the respective lead singers for Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special, these siblings are living symbols of diehard Dixie spirit. Over the past decade, the Van Zants have found Nashville increasingly hospitable to the sort of guitar-spiked Southern rock that they (and late, great brother Ronnie) helped pioneer decades ago. As might be expected, there are boozy rave-ups (“Goes Down Easy”), hard-charging survivor anthems (“Train”), toasts to America’s fighting forces (“These Colors Don’t Run”) and pugnacious testaments of faith (“We Can’t Do It Alone”). The best tracks here deal with the realities of growing older. “That Scares Me” finds the Van Zants struggling to explain themselves to the younger generation, while “Headed South” reflects upon the rigors of the road. It’s in songs like these that Johnny and Donnie rise above the formulaic and speak with the sort of honesty only true rebels can afford.