Damn Country Music [Deluxe Edition]

Personnel: David Levita (electric guitar); Shannon Forrest (drums, programming).Recording information: Black River Soundstage; Blackbird Studios.There's an edge, a defiance to the title of Damn Country Music that may not surface in the music, yet it still taps into the essence of Tim McGraw's appeal: he doesn't bother with crossover, he stays true to country and doesn't care who knows it. Thing is, McGraw's definition of country music is quite flexible, something Damn Country Music makes plain. Other singers who pledge allegiance to country music are often rooted in some kind of hardcore twang -- a bit of old Texas honky tonk or perhaps Southern-fried country-rock -- but at his core, McGraw is a soft touch, easily adapting to the shifts in time without ever seeming like he's following fashion. So it is with Damn Country Music, where he spends as much time singing over gently rolling electronic loops as he does over cavernous echoing guitars suggesting so much as prime U2. Such flexibil