Broken In

iTunes Review

On his third album, Trent Willmon trims some of the thornier edges off of his grassroots brand of Texas country, but Broken In still shows some pleasing scruffiness beneath its shine. The album tips its hat to a number of Lone Star artists — by turns, Willmon comes across as a George Strait-style gentleman cowboy, a Guy Clark-like folksy dreamer, and a Tracy Byrd-esque barroom buckaroo —all of which gives him the freedom to stretch out in different directions. A jolt of rock energy lights up “Little Set of Horns” and the title tune, while “Cold Beer and a Fishin’ Pole” contrasts a backwoods lyric with a funky groove. Willmon is capable of delivering big-hearted love ballads (“The Way I Remember It”) and wide-eyed testimonies of faith (“There is a God”). More unique, though, is his fondness for sketches of small-town life, such as the wry “Dry County” and the nostalgic “Tumbleweed Town.” On “The Good Ol’ Days Are Gone,” Willmon invokes the ragged joys of the musician’s life with particular relish. Altogether a batch of well-chosen songs sung with conviction.