On his self-titled sophomore album, Levi Lowrey explores his Deep South roots while stretching out to embrace everything from bluegrass to heavy metal. Best known as the cowriter of several Zac Brown Band hits, this Georgia-born singer/songwriter boasts musical bloodlines that go back to his great-great-grandfather Gid Tanner, a pioneering country artist of the '20s. Autobiography figures heavily in Lowrey’s latest album; memories of his hardscrabble childhood and troubled young adult years add authenticity to tracks like “December Thirty-One,” “Urge for Leaving," and “Long Way Home.” A strain of passionate backwoods faith turns up in the hard-stomping “That Is All” and the yearning, acoustic-centered “Before the Hymnal Died.” Lowrey’s love songs are bruised and tender, whether he’s parsing a tormented relationship (“Window Pane Soul”) or surrendering to post-breakup blues (“High and Lonesome”). Lowrey’s deft acoustic fingerpicking and fiddle work shines, whether the setting is rough-hewn or delicately wrought. It all combines to make this gritty, sensitive, and surprisingly poetic album a standout effort.