Drive

Chris Webster is a fine, gutsy singer-songwriter who knows just how to combine rock & roll muscle with country twang in a way that preserves the best of both approaches. Her songs, while rarely cosmetically hooky, are always stirring and just catchy enough to stay firmly in the mind. And she's got the unusual combination of a romantic heart and feet that are firmly planted on the ground: in other words, she's willing to "tumble into love" ("I'm a little dizzy, but it feels so sweet"), but on "Shake On It" she asks her guy to make some commitments up front, preferably in writing. And "I'm Driving" makes it clear that just because she's letting you in the car doesn't mean you get to decide where it goes. That last one has a slouchy New Orleans feel to it, while "Shake On It" is all greasy, horn-driven R&B, and "Circles in the Wind" is straight-ahead country-rock. When she's not doing originals, she's covering Van Morrison and Randy Newman, and, truth be told, kicking their respective butts. Keep an eye on this one.