In this week's episode, we're celebrating the songwriting prowess of Wayne Kemp with his debut full-length album "Wayne Kemp" (1971). Few of country's best composer's could boast the way with words that this purveyor of hard country possessed, and he had handfuls of songs recorded by some of country's legends, as we explore in this week's episode. George Jones, Conway Twitty & George Strait were particular fans of Kemp-penned material, which is more of an endorsement than anyone in country music could hope to get. During his own recording career, Kemp never reached the heights he should have. He had long play albums out on Decca (our feature album), MCA and Door Knob but enjoyed only a few minor chart hits. His vocal style suited the material he excelled at writing: cheating and hurting songs, barroom and carousing anthems - all dripping with fiddle & steel, sorrow & triumph. From his days playing guitar for Patsy Cline, Red Sovine, Jones & Twitty - he must have picked up something along the way because our feature album features some of the best pure country music you could ever hope to hear in any era. Highlights include some of his own compositions in "Bar Room Habits", "Won't You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)" and the heartbroken "Who'll Turn Out The Lights" as well as a handy cover of Faron Young's hit (via Ray Griff) "Step Aside".

In this week's episode, we're featuring a labour of love from Laura Cash: "Awake But Dreaming" (2010). A fine collection of western swing and traditional country covers from this talented fiddler and Oregon native and one time daughter-in-law to the great Johnny Cash, this release is complemented wonderfully with well-chosen cameos. Fellow fiddlers The Quebe Sisters join in the fun on two cuts and Bobby Flores' excellent harmonies are all over this album; Jason Carter duets with Cash on a Benny Martin tune added to Joey McKenzie's rhythm guitar on a couple of tracks. Backed by the best studio musicians you could hope for - all of these folks are connections that Laura Cash has made since a well-timed move to Nashville in 1989. She made friends with some of country music's greats at a time when many were still around and getting recognition, and she's got the stories and pictures to prove it. "Awake But Dreaming" is Cash's way of keeping the tradition of country music's forefathers alive, and she does an excellent job with fiddle licks and a rootsy vocal you can sink your teeth into. Highlights include the original and touching tribute to her friend Roy Acuff in "Song For Roy (Country Music's King)"; a toe-tapping arrangement of Ray Price's "Who'll Be The First" and a couple of Bob Wills tunes in "Awake But Dreaming" and "The Image Of Me".

In this week's episode, we're featuring the twangy breakout album from David Ball, "Thinkin' Problem" (1994). After earning respect from countless musical quarters and partly kick-starting the alt-country movement from his time with Uncle Walt's Band in the 70s and 80s, David Ball was encouraged to move to Nashville and pursue country music after hearing Randy Travis on the radio in about 1986. Eight years later, including a false start with RCA Records - producer Blake Chancey liked what he heard, and Ball cut "Thinkin' Problem" with Warner Brothers to great success. Our feature album sold a million copies at a time when the neo-traditional movement was on the wane, and spawned a Top 5, Top 10, Top 20 and two further singles. Ball's hardcore honky tonk sound appealed to country fans, and it was original music too - he wrote or co-wrote nine of "Thinkin' Problems" ten tracks, opting to include a Webb Pierce cover to round out the album cuts to let listeners know where he was coming from musically. The album stands the test of time, too: highlights include the pun-a-licious "Blowin' Smoke", the alluring neon nurses in "Honky Tonk Healin'" and a strangely uptempo crawler "Don't Think Twice". Years later, when Ball was asked if he ever got sick of playing "Thinkin' Problem" live, he answered emphatically: 'Hell, no. I think it's one of the best country songs I've ever heard." Well said!

In this week's episode, we're featuring a landmark album in what would later become known as the western swing revivalist movement: Merle Haggard's sensational "My Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (or, My Salute To Bob Wills)" (1970). Along with Jimmie Rodgers and Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills was one of The Hag's primarily influences. A young Haggard even snuck out of his home at age 12 to go see Wills play at the famous Beardsley Ballroom, such was the influence from a very formative age. Armed with a fiddle he only took a few months to learn - a fiddle which once belonged to Bob Wills himself - Haggard, in discussion with Roy Nichols and Norm Hamlet of his band The Strangers, decided a tribute to "The Old Man" could only be done properly with the help of those who were there to make the sound in the first place. Johnny Gimble, Joe Holley, Eldon Shamblin, Tiny Moore and others graciously and eagerly agreed to be a part of this project and "The Best Damn Fiddle Player" is generally accepted as the first mainstream album to kickstart the western swing revival, still very much alive today. The enjoyment had on this collection of Wills standards (with a few choice obscurities) is evident, and legend has it that at the end of the three-day recording session, such was the emotion in the room that when the final note was played, you could see a tear in the eye of most all the pickers there. That's the soul of country music and western swing right there.

In this week's episode, we're featuring a great neo-traditional album from Tracy Byrd: "Love Lessons" (1995). Three albums in, a number one under his belt and some of the catchiest novelty songs of 90s country radio, Byrd had arrived. But Tracy Byrd was far more than detractors of the "Watermelon Crawl" might give him credit for - he had some geniune talent, a nice guy persona that always goes a long way in show biz and a very talented road band. Mark Nesler, the guitar picker in Byrd's "Only Way To Fly" band co-wrote three of the tracks on the album (two with Byrd himself); and you know when writers like Bill Anderson, Melba Montgomery and Max D. Barnes are submitting songs onto your third studio album that you must be doing something right. A radio-friendly baritone to match a PR-friendly smile helped Tracy Byrd to three Top twenty singles from "Love Lessons", but in this reviewer's opinion, the real gold lies in it's album tracks. "You Lied To Me" is a two-stepper that would fit in well at Tracy Byrd's former home of Cutter's nightclub in Beaumont, TX; "Don't Need That Heartache" keeps the blood flowing, as does the peppy "Walkin' In" and the belly-rubber "Heaven In My Woman's Eyes" displays some sensational acoustic guitar flourishes on top of some buttery brushes. A really good album.