Thank You Harlan Howard (D Cupp, 2002)

With the possible exceptions of Hank Williams and Buck Owens, probably no other Nashville or Bakersfield songwriter fueled the honky tonk fires for longer than did the late Harlan Howard, and the newest disc from the Tone Chaperones of Michigan pays loving tribute to the man who kept decades worth of Opry stars and bar singers in business. Some of the obvious are here - "I Fall To Pieces," "Streets Of Baltimore," "Pick Me Up" (though, interestingly, not "Heartaches By The Number") - but it's fun to hear them work through lesser known Howard gems like "Big Ole Heartache" too. Pull up a barstool and give it a listen. (Box 341, Lawton, MI 49065, 616-624-2155)