It Just Comes Natural (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Steve Gibson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gut-string guitar); Mac McAnally (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar, gut-string guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Nashville String Machine (strings); Jeff Taylor (accordion); Matt Rollings (piano, synthesizer); Steve Nathan (organ, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer); Glenn Worf (upright bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Tony Brown, Wes Hightower, Marty Slayton (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Chuck Ainlay.

Recording information: Shrimpboat Sound, Key West, FL; Starstruck, Nashville, TN; The Compound, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Sid Farbstein.

Such a perfect title for a George Strait album it's a wonder it hasn't been used before, IT JUST COMES NATURAL showcases one of the all-time great Nashville country singers in his natural habitat. Surrounded by fiddles, steel guitars, mandolins, and other signifiers of the new traditionalist country sound that he remains loyal to more than a quarter-century into his career, Strait delivers 15 wry breakup songs (first single, "Give it Away"), heartbroken ballads ("I Ain't Her Cowboy Anymore"), and audience-pleasing sing-alongs ("How 'Bout Them Cowgirls"). Strait even finds room to resurrect a minor classic of the Texas alt-country scene of the 1970s, Guy Clark's "Texas Cooking," a should-be standard of which Strait gives a respectful, cozy reading. Still one of the finest country singers of his own or any generation, Strait is in excellent voice throughout. minimize