Doug Schmude is a travelin’ man, covering more miles in the dozen songs on his second Americana-lite release than most people do in a lifetime.

Naturally, he takes the scenic route, lyrically and literally, as befits someone who left his native Baton Rouge for the Southwest, where he honed his eye for character, then the Midwest, where he apparently learned to tell a story, and finally Nashville, where he perfected his licks.

Throughout All These Avenues, he uses objects and points on the map as emotional placeholders—and sometimes, as on the opener “Map of America,” the cartography itself.

He may have a little more wandering to do, though, if he wants to translate all this Americana into a viewpoint and not just a place mat; his characters are restless, doomed and drunk, but most of the time it’s not clear what they’re running to or from.

Schmude’s vocal approach overcompensates, resulting in a strangely breathy style that makes these stories sound more affected, not more resonant, than they actually are.

Putting less drama into the mic and more behind the pen might help him bring out the moments where he hits hardest, like the “20 lbs. of Grain” that takes as long to age as a marriage does to fall apart, or the Thelma & Louise turn of “200 Gallons of Gasoline.”

Or little gems like this: “We spent the night fighting and made up all day / Which was louder, it’d be tough to say.”