For a Second Time

Singer/songwriter/guitarists Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack hedge their bets on the first studio album by their second group project, Daddy, by putting their individual names on the spine of the CD digipack but not on the album cover, which sports a photograph of the five group members (also including Nashville session musicians John Deaderick, Dave Jacques, and Paul Griffith). Or maybe they just want name recognition for an album of their songs, written and sung separately and together. But on disc, Daddy really do come off as a group, one that achieves its own roadhouse country-rock sound. On songs such as Kimbrough's "Love in a Bottle," the band keeps chugging along for a while after the singer runs out of verses, emphasizing the jamming feel of musicians who enjoy playing together. The group dynamic sometimes suggests other bands. Womack's "Early to Bed, Early to Rise" has a distinct Rolling Stones sound, even if the tongue-in-cheek self-improvement lyrics are not the kind that could ever escape Mick Jagger's lips. "Wash & Fold" combines an "Iko Iko" beat with a slide guitar that makes it sound like a fraternal mash-up of the Neville Brothers and the Allman Brothers Band. Kimbrough and Womack don't seem to have given up their solo aspirations for Daddy, which they may consider a side project. But they do have a history of performing well in groups, and the music here suggests that Daddy may outgrow their individual careers, if allowed to flourish.