Brittany Reilly w/Almost Acoustic Band

If most country music coming out of Nashville is the musical equivalent of Lone Star Steakhouse, Bay Villager Reilly's Good Old Country Sound is Cracker Barrel. "All these honky-tonks don't play real country music," she laments in the title track of her debut. Reilly and a genteel sextet play acoustic country tunes that sound so old-timey, they could be Soggy Bottom Boys leftovers. Sue Cunningham's fiddle takes front and center in "Ash Grove." Brent Hopper plays boogie-woogie piano in "Hard Times Knockin' at My Door." And Billy Gilmore plays the group's utility infielder, working the lap steel, mandolin, Dobro, and banjo. Can they pick it? Yes, they can. - Cleveland Scene by DX Ferris

There's little chance of ever confusing this Brittany with that other one - you know, the one who's constantly on the covers of tabloids for mistreating her kids and hooking up with any number of slimeballs while she tries to resuscitate her career as a pop singer. Reilly, a wholesome country crooner who was born and raised in Bay Village, keeps things simple on this album, which she recorded at South Florida's Dream Factory Studios. While Reilly only writes a handful of the songs here, her voice suits the bluegrass and country material perfectly. Her fine backing band has no trouble evoking an authentic bluegrass vibe on tunes such as "Banks of the Old Suwannee," either. While she could work on her range and experiment with material that's a bit more edgy, Reilly, who turns 24 next month, still has plenty of time for that. - JN - Cleveland Free Times