Reviewed by Dave Brassington

Doug is clearly a fascinating figure. As well as being a country gospel artist, he lives in Alaska where he pastors a "cowboy church". This, Doug's debut, has a rousing opener, "More Than Just A Farm". Vocally Doug comes across as a mixture of Lee Greenwood and a touch of Kenny Rogers. These are mostly new songs with Pat Kelley being the major composer. I was familiar with "The Man My Dog Thinks I Am", which I'm still not sure I like, but its theology is actually more profound than I had originally thought. "It's All Country" is an appeal for all factions of country music to come together and stop bickering amongst themselves. Whilst I echo some of the sentiments expressed I don't think it actually works as a song. Two other attractive songs are "Second Dances" and "Voices". Doug is obviously someone who wants to make music in the solid, down home modern country music style he enjoys and not be dictated to by outside commercial interests. My only advice would be to possibly widen the scope for good songs by different writers. This is an album I enjoyed and I look forward to hearing much more from Doug in the future.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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