First there was his debut, the swing-blues Ridin’ In Style, done with the Sevilles as backup (1994). Then came 1996’s more expansive Louisiana Rain. Now comes the boldest surprise of all—a straight country-rock album. Bigger surprise: It may be what he was looking for all along.

Produced by Bo Ramsey, this new disc by Kim Wilson’s favorite protégé has him almost entirely abandoning the blues, although he takes a nice turn on Lazy Lester’s “A Word About A Woman,” a duet with Lester himself. Instead, he dons a cowboy hat, fires up the twang, and lets loose with the road trip album of the year, leaving the driveway in a shot with “Bullet From A Gun” and overall sounding like blues only as Hank Sr. done it. Hank, vintage Dylan, and the Rolling Stones’ country side all bleed through the songs here, as Morgan and his two-piece backup band erupt through 11 near-flawless tracks of country swing, rockabilly, and back-porch ballads.

The title track, a wistful mid-tempo weeper, asks “What makes a man keep runnin’ with shame?” while beautifully jangling guitars and extreme regret wash over him, and that’s pretty much the backbone of the album right there: musical and thematic restlessness. The titles say it all… “I Ain’t Waitin’ No More,” “Nothing To Go Back To,” “Should Be Gone,” “’59 Cadillac.” And even if he pretends to reveal his true feelings in the elegantly simple ballad “One More Night,” begging to stay a little longer before he hits the road again, we know better. After all, look how far he’s come to be here.