Have At It! (Disgraceland, 2000)

If one can get past the Have Nots' ridiculous PR release which attempts to tag their music with the new genre label of "County music" (that's right, c-o-u-n-t-y), one can find a most pleasing sampler of several of the various permutations of country music. Hailing from Knoxville, Tenn., the Have Nots have looked beyond their Appalachian home and found influences from far and wide, both geographically and historically.

From the familiar, traditional sound of the crying pedal steel of "Blue All Over," which sounds as if it came from a bygone-era Nashville, to the Tex-Mex sound of "Best Mistake (I'd Ever Make Again)" which also sounds quite Mavericks-like, the Have Nots touch on many other sounds in between. There's the '70's country rock sound of "Fragile," the upbeat rock sounds of "She Put The Hurt On Me" and "Bad Boy" (the latter reminiscent of the early '60's, British Invasion-era), and several songs that display influences of their modern alt.-country contemporaries. Particularly, "Fancy Meeting You Here" and "Only Ever Be" remind one of the Michigan band The Volebeats.

Through their array of musical selections, the Have Nots prove they actually do have it all - a great understanding of the diversity of sounds which make up country music and no small amount of talent to back it up.