Ronnie Bowman – It’s Gettin’ Better All the Time

Released just days before Koch shut down its Nashville division, the fourth solo album by the onetime Lonesome River Band lead singer is named for the Bowman/Don Cook ballad that Brooks & Dunn took to the top of the country charts in 2005. That may look like a calculated move, and indeed it may be, but so what? The song is heartwrenchingly perfect (or perfectly heartwrenching). And if making it the title track induces even one B&D fan to pick up the album, it will have served a useful purpose, for Bowman’s in fine form here — and grassy as ever — in both the writing and singing departments.

Bowman is backed by an all-star cast that includes current and former members of his band, the Committee, plus two McCourys (Del and Rob), former LRB duet partner Dan Tyminski (of Union Station), mandolin wizard Adam Steffey and others. He tackles a couple of standards — “Old Flames” and a fiery reading of the old Webb Pierce favorite, “Walkin’ The Dog” — but concentrates on songs he’s co-written since his 2001 move to Nashville.

Most but not all of them are in a smart contemporary vein, with slinky melodies and harmonic structures married to straightforward lyric themes and unmistakable bluegrass rhythms. In this context, the Buck Owens-flavored “Build A Little Playhouse”, co-written with the Grascals’ Jamie Johnson, stands out as a pleasant change of pace, as does a more ambitious ballad, “The Mountain”.

Bowman gets a bad rap sometimes from those who disdain polished elegance in bluegrass performances. But for anyone else, including those Brooks & Dunn fans, It’s Gettin’ Better All The Time amounts to a rich, emotionally compelling collection.