As the son of a Nashville country legend, Bobby Bare Jr. knows country music deep and well. Yet, he’s always felt free to explore the sound around it. His silly side often mixes with his serious side in the most unexpected places. The title track to this 2010 album is actually a near-tragic tale about his mother’s near-death experience. An acrimonious divorce and remarriage guides this album in strange and beautiful ways. But the real beauty is Bare’s voice. The way it blends for forlorn harmonies on “Don’t Go to Chattanooga,” “Swollen But Not the Same” and “The Summer of ‘93 .” The band, featuring My Morning Jacket’s Carl Brommel, Tommy Blankenship and Patrick Hallahan, crunches the country-rock like they’re Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers surveying the Appalachian mountains with occasional ventures into hard-rock psychedelia (“The Sky Is the Ground”). The performances are tight and assured and give Bare the proper fight. Bare even offers up the stark acoustic piece, “One of Us Has Got to Go.” Heartfelt and humorous, broken down and getting up, Bobby Bare Jr. turns comedy into tragedy and music for all.