Startin' with Me  (Audio CD) 
by Jake Owen

Newcomer Owen arrives at his debut with a passel of co-writes with top Nashville tunesmiths Brett James and Casey Beathard (as well as eight with his producer, Jimmy Ritchey), and has enjoyed opening tour slots for Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley. That means his label expects big things. The Florida native hits the usual radio-ready topics--the bikini stirrings of "Something About a Woman," the drinking-her-off-my-mind pain of "The Bottle and Me." But balancing the good-time single "Yee Haw" is the affecting and well-crafted title tune--which revolves around the poor judgment of youth and the desire to live a better life--and the serious "Ghosts," an alcoholic's confession of regret and resolve. With his Southern-everyman drawl and standard-issue Haggard vocal stylings, Owen will live or die by his songs. How well he can follow this up should tell the tale. --Alanna Nash