*** Kenny Roby

MERCURY BLUES

(Ricebox Records)

With his now-defunct No Depression outfit, Six String Drag, Kenny Roby mixed and matched musical styles from Southern gospel to British pop, insurgent country to Motown soul. On his first solo album, Roby picks up where Six String Drag left off. His Leon-Redbone-meets-Elvis-Costello voice is the perfect foil for his wry sense of humor, whether he's speaking as the jealous teenager in "Why Can't I Be You" or the boozing boyfriend in a teetotaling community in "In This Town." But Roby's wit and wisdom are never too clever or self-conscious. Consider the lover's plea from "In a Dress": "If I said I didn't care/Would you know that I was lying/Would you look me in the eye/Not even ask me why/If I said I didn't care." Every song on Mercury's Blues offers a different, compelling sound, from the New Orleans stomp of "In This Town" to the guitar crunch of the title track. And with only one track more than four minutes long, this release could teach a lot of pop songsmiths about brevity and storytelling. (You can order Mercury's Blues at www.riceboxrecords.com.)

-- Nick A Zaino III