Startin' with Me (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Jake Owen; Jimmy Ritchey (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, mandolin); Brent Mason (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); B. James Lowry (acoustic guitar); David Grissom, Pat Buchanan (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro); Jonathan Yudkin (violin, viola, cello, strings); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Jelly Roll Johnson (harmonica); Kenny Aronoff (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); John Wesley Ryles, Lisa Cochran, Wes Hightower (background vocals); Randy Owen.

Audio Mixers: Clarke Schleicher; Jeff Balding.

Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Fox Ridge Studios, Brentwood, TN; Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, TN; OmniSound Studios, Nashville, TN; SOund Kitchen, Franklin, TN; Westlake Studios, Nashville, TN; Westwood Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

24-year-old country singer Jake Owen debuts with the self-assured--and largely self-written--STARTIN' WITH ME, a solid example of contemporary Nashville country that doesn't neglect its traditional roots. Neither as slick as Keith Urban nor as rock-influenced as Muzik Mafia types like Big & Rich or Gretchen Wilson, the Florida-born Owen is a contemporary analogue to the New Traditionalists of the 1980s. Though the debut single "Yee Haw" and the rebel-rousing album closer "You Can Thank Dixie" kick up a Toby Keith-style roadhouse fuss, old-school ballads like "Ghosts" are Owen's strong suit. minimize