Just as I Am

Personnel: Chris McHugh, Ben Sims , Elliot Huff (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); J. Bonilla (programming); Wes Hightower (background vocals).Audio Mixer: Justin Niebank.Recording information: Blackbird Studios; Highland Park Sound, Los Angeles, CA; Hound's Ear Studios, Franklin, TN; Ocean Way Studios; Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, TN; The Castle Recordings, Nashville, TN.Photographer: James Minchin.Its title is a shrug, but it's also defiant, an admission that Brantley Gilbert can't be anything but who he is -- a stance adopted by outlaw country singers since the early '70s, or perhaps earlier. Gilbert does welcome comparisons to Waylon and Willie -- the former more than the latter; he does really like such niceties as swing or jazz -- but he's a child of the '80s, raised on arena rock and volume; the first Hank he knew was Jr., not Sr. That may mean he favors amplification -- every song on Just as I Am feels cranked to 11, even the heartbroken ballads -- but he's not a guy who lives