Sammy Kershaw – Feelin' Good Train / Mercury Audio CD 1994 / 522 125-2

From the backwoods swamps of Louisiana comes Sammy Kershaw, one of country music's most distinctive vocalists. Coming off the critical and popular acclaim of HAUNTED HEART, Kershaw had a lot to prove with his new release. Well, the proof is in his latest, his best album to date, FEELIN' GOOD TRAIN.

Kershaw infuses all the songs with his Cajun-spiced personality, crisp delivery and emotion-packed vocals. A perfect example is his remake of the Amazing Rhythm Aces' "Third Rate Romance." He makes it his own, and his fans repaid him by making the song #1.

The anthemic "National Working Woman's Holiday" extols the virtues of hard-working women, a refreshing turnaround from the usual macho fare of country music. It's a song that not only makes a political statement, but you can dance to it! The Mac MacAnally-penned "Southbound" is a moving narrative about roots, and in it you can tell that while Kershaw studied the masters like George Jones, he must also have checked out artists like James Taylor. Speaking of George Jones, Sammy and "The Possum" share the fun duet "Never Bit A Bullet Like This," trading off similar vocal licks.

FEELIN' GOOD TRAIN is a roaring locomotive, engined by a country dynamo, foot-stompin' romps, sorrowful ballads and full-tilt country rockers.