AVIDIGI

With his cute strawberry-blond moustache and broad-brimmed cowboy hat, Tracy Lawrence comes across at first as just one more of Nashville's young matinee idols. He's a lot better than most of them, though, and I See It Now proves he's that rare honky-tonk singer who can make you laugh at love's foolishness on one song and cry at love's agony on the next. Lawrence's '93 album, Alibis, was the best collection of comic country songs since Roger Miller's heyday; I See It Now isn't quite as satisfying, but it does confirm Lawrence can be quite effective as a balladeer.