Jon Christopher Davis (Palo Duro, 2006)

Singer-songwriter Jon Christopher Davis offers up 13 tracks (one "hidden") on his label debut, including 6 from an earlier CD, �Lone Star Attitude.� The redundancy doesn't end there. Who is Davis? Sort of a Jack Ingram knockoff with elements of The Eagles. He sounds a little like Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and includes a song on the disc called "Round Here." No, not the early Counting Crows hit. He even borrows the metaphor from the George Jones-Tammy Wynette hit "Two Story House" with the transparently titled "Two Story Town."

Davis has worked with established artists like Sherri� Austin, Hal Ketchum and Dolly Parton, while Radney Foster and Rodney Crowell extol his range of talents. But for now, Davis - who boasts an able voice and bold arrangements - seems to have stalled on competence rather than compelling message. He touches on all the requisite elements, including references to Elvis and Gary P. Nunn; he just doesn't seem to have anything fresh, anything all his own, to say.

It's not till the final official track, "I Don't Care," and the ghost track, "If I Could Only Fly," that Davis seems to etch the outlines of a real message. Maybe that comes on his next outing.