(Sugar Hill)

 www.sugarhillrecords.com

Husband-and-wife team Joey Martin (she's the girl) and Rory Feek (he's the boy) came to the world's attention via television's great millennial programming innovation-slash-race to the bottom, the "reality" show. In their case, it was via the genre's musical division, specifically the CMT show "Can You Duet." The duo did not win the contest, but their respectable third place finish was enough to gain them an opportunity to record this record with Carl Jackson and a backing group of Bryan Sutton, Rob Ickes, Aubrey Haynie, and other hotshots.

In spite of their success on the show, labeling Joey + Rory a duet act is a bit of misnomer, since there is very little actual dueting going on here. Rather, they're akin to a group from the country music past, the Kendalls; like that father-and-daughter pairing, Martin does all of the lead singing, supported by her husband's harmonies and guitar playing (and his fine songwriting, too). Their debut displays a distinct bifurcation. The dominant style is acoustic country: "Play the Song" is a shuffling complaint about the demands of philistine label execs, "Tune of a Twenty Dollar Bill" has a bluegrass flavor, "Sweet Emmylou" is an aching ballad built on the trope of how Ms. Harris helps the singer through the devastation of lost love and "Cheater Cheater" a rocking acoustic number with the feistiness of "Fist City."

But there are also several songs that sound ready for airplay on commercial country radio, from the George Strait-like "Tonight Cowboy You're Mine" to the poppy, string-enhanced "Rodeo" to "Boots," which has a harder yet contemporary country sound. The album's most singular moment, though, comes with a slowed-down, countrified "Free Bird," which is eyebrow-raising at first for the pair's choosing to cover such a hoary chestnut, and then for their success in breathing new life into it.

Standout Tracks: "Tune of a Twenty Dollar Bill," "Free Bird" STUART MUNRO