Lafayette’s Jim Pharis’ debut album consists of seven originals and two covers, all adeptly finger picked on a steel-body resonator guitar. Overall, the disc has a live feel, as if this took place on a Saturday morning in a subdued coffee shop. Pharis’ quivery, folky voice may take a little getting used to but his songs are lighthearted and humorous in a quirky way, such as on  “Bare Ass Boogie,” where he feels a slight breeze where “the sun ain’t never shone.” On “Lofty Blues,” the protagonist dreams of winning the lottery, then loses his winning ticket to a gust of wind. “Middle Age White Guy” is also funny with good points but could have been performed at a brisker tempo. The hand-picked covers, Bo Carter’s “Ways like a Crawfish” and Mississippi John Hurt’s “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me” fit his personality well—especially on the latter, where the protagonist asks that his corpse be tossed into the deep blue to save on expenses. Two instrumentals, “Lefty’s Rag” and the dreamy “The Cure,” are strong testaments to Pharis’ virtuosity, which a couple of more would have provided a nice balance.