(Yellow Rose Records) San Antonio native Jim Byrom started playing the guitar at the age of 8, and started playing professionally at 15 in his father's band Silver Rose. After high school, he started his own band The Diamondbacks, who played the local San Antonio clubs and honky tonks, playing lead guitar. Later on he moved to College Station and with a good friend started another band, Luck Of The Draw, where he once again played guitar and contributed lead vocals on an occasional traditional country song. He stayed with the band for three years, however during this time he began singing more and realized he could back himself while playing a style of music he felt better suited for. On his own, he went back to the music that influenced him such as Ray Price and Johnny Bush as well as the more contemporary artists of the 80s and early 90s such as George Strait, Eddy Raven and Keith Whitley.

On Whiskey Uniform, Jim has the chance to showcase the style of country music he's always wanted to play. Not only does he prove himself a strong vocalist, he's also a terrific songwriter, writing all but three of the disc's tracks. He also had the help of some top notch talent to help bring his vision to fruitation. Whiskey Uniform is produced by Bobby Flores, who also contributes on guitar, fiddle and backing vocals. Also on board are Phil Dalmolin and Phil Fisher (drums), Allen Chapman and Alan Kolby (bass), Randy Reinhard (piano, steel), Jim Lossenberg and Rick Price (steel), Crystal Byrom (fiddle, backing vocals), Jerrad Green (percussion) and Christine Mims and Sandra Caroll (backing vocals).

Jim offers up mostly upbeat melodies that sometimes belie the whiskey and heartache that permeate the lyrics. The title track "Whiskey Uniform" and "Cuervo No Salt" are a pair of uptempo drowning-a-heartache honky tonkers. The disc opener, the infectious "How Lonely Does Lonely Get," "Three At A Time" and "Honky Tonk Band" are a trio of two-steppers, while "Walking Slow" is a Bakersfield tinged shuffle. Jim delivers two mid-tempo ballads, "County Line" with it's weeping fiddle and the hopeful "Someone Like You." The romantic "Let Forever Start Tonight" is the disc's lone slow ballad.

Jim Byrom has successfully found the winning combination in marrying the sounds of traditional dancehall honky tonk drenched in fiddle and steel with contemporary country music- without the slightest trace of pop in the vicinity. On Whiskey Uniform, Jim serves up a fresh approach to country music that's firmly planted in tradition while he skillfully edges it forward, without losing anything in the translation.      

Standout Tracks: "How Lonely Does Lonely Get," "Whiskey Uniform," "Three At A Time," "Walkin' Slow," "Honky Tonk Band"

On The Net:  www.jimbyrom.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack February 2004