Freedom
Yes, he looks like the rock & roll love child of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, all blond and faux-scruffy and sexy in leather pants. And yes, little girls will swoon. But Andy Griggs is not theFabianof his generation. Three years after his promising, gold-selling debut,You Won't Ever Be Lonely, he returns with a surprisingly muscular set of songs, half of which he cowrote. Louisiana born and bred, with soulful bluegrass and gospel influences, Griggs knows how to get the feeling in the grooves. He's at his best when mining a gravelly,Travis Tritt-style "outlaw" sound, as he frequently does throughout the repertoire and particularly on the beat-heavy, brooding "A Hundred Miles of Bad Road." But don't sell him short on atmospheric songs that capture a moment, even if he puts an ill-chosen banjo on a Cajun-flavored rhythm number ("Sweetheart of Beinja Bayou") or references a "preacher's daughter holding a beer" on "How Cool Is That." By the time he gets to the hidden track, "Someone Like Me," written by his late brother, Mason, he's pretty much given blood. Let's see DiCaprio dothat.--Alanna Nash