Courtney Granger has always had one of the purest voices in Cajun music, making him a sought out vocalist and fiddler known for his role with Balfa Toujours, the Pine Leaf Boys and Ray Abshire. While he’s revered in his cultural genre, his rendition of George Jones’ “You’re Still on My Mind” on Joel Savoy’s Honky Tonk Merry-Go-Round release made many realize that he was just plain good—period, regardless of genre and language. Fast forward a few years later and Granger is even better and more seasoned on this stone hard country album. Though several selections come from the canon of Jones (“Mr. Fool”) and Keith Whitley (“She Never Got Me Over You”), Granger pulls off these emotionally heavyweight selections as if he were channeling the spirits of the aforementioned.

His deep, major league pipes make these heartbreakers seem like his disappointments and tragedies, not those of some songwriter along Music Row. He’s compassionate towards the deranged protagonist on “Dance With Me Molly,” who uses the bottle to slip into a happier oblivion, and the guy in “My New Year Starts Today” who finally moves forward after hitting rock bottom. The title track paints a picture of a lonely, dimly lit barroom where a jukebox plays in the corner to solitary, silent patrons lost in their thought and drink. Whether it’s Granger or some celebrity hat act they’re listening to really doesn’t matter. He feels their pain anyway and it’s them he’s singing to. Real stuff.