There are moments on Ben Hall’s self-titled (with exclamation point) album where he seems possessed by the shades of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. The young Mississippian’s thumb-style guitar playing displays a fluent self-assurance far beyond his years. He applies his gifts to a well-chosen set with able support from bassist Skip Ward and drummer Sammy Merendino. As a player, Hall never loses his easy but insistent rhythmic pulse, even as he adds sly improvisations and quick musical asides. There’s a jaunty warmth to his treatment of old-timey tunes like “Alabama Jubilee” and “Mimi & Me” as well as classic Nashville fare like “King of the Road.” More unexpected are his renditions of jazz/pop standards like “Lover, Come Back to Me” and “They’ll Be Some Changes Made.” Hall acknowledges Travis’ crucial influence with sparkling takes of “Cannonball Rag,” “Guitar Rag” and “Sweet Temptation.” He likewise honors the role of mentor Charlie Louvin in his career by closing with an exquisitely bittersweet version of the Louvin Brothers’ “Every Time You Leave.”