I'll Take the Fifth (Smith Entertainment Group, 2009)

There's a definite retro feel to latest release of Springfield, Mo.'s Dallas Wayne, best known in recent years as an on-air personality on the Sirus/XM "Outlaw Country" channel and before that a HighTone artist.

I'm Gonna Break Some Promises Tonight and Fixin' To Fall are in the George Jones tradition, while If These Walls Could Cry and God Only Knows (a Wayne original not to be confused with the Beach Boys song) are classic country weepers. All Dressed Up (With No Place To Go) has a country swing feel. Several tunes, such as Crawling Is Easy, Invisible Man and the title track might have been mainstream hit material in the '80's for artists like John Anderson or George Strait.

Wayne wrote or co-wrote all 13 songs here, including 4 with Robbie Fulks. The backing is stellar throughout, particularly with guitarist Redd Volkaert and Bobby Flores on fiddle.

With strong tunes and solid performances, Dallas Wayne proves that in addition to serving up good music on satellite radio, he's equally adept at creating his own.