Jamie Warren (River North, 1996)

Jamie Warren's debut is quite remarkable. It's not because Warren's voice is anything to write home about. He sings in a warm, competent baritone slightly reminiscent of a watered-down Hal Ketchum.It's not the production of Warren's 12 self-penned tracks. The tracks are solid and workmanlike and the production is spare.

What's remarkable about Warren's debut release is how unremarkable it is.The songs tread well-worn subject matter like romantic restlessness ("Ready To Run"), memories of youth ("One Step Back") and a message song on domestic violence ("The Secret") to boot. The first two songs are so generic that they you can almost forget them before the track stops playing. There are a couple bright spots. "You Can Break My Heart Anytime" shows that Warren and company can do traditional honky-tonk if need be. And despite its uneven phrasing, "The First Time Two Wrongs Ever Made A Right" is a very touching song.

Otherwise, if "safe" and "undistinguished" were Olympic events, Jamie Warren would be goin' for the gold.