Big Love in a Small Town  (Audio CD) 
by Sarah Johns

This debut aims to fit into the feisty, down-home Gretchen Wilson/Miranda Lambert niche, but is undermined by uneven material (all of which the Kentucky singer had a hand in). Sarah Johns strikes a responsive, good-ol'-girl chord in the first three numbers: the beleaguered but resilient "When Do I Get to Be a Woman," the kiss-off to a man who likes his liquor too much in "If You Could Hold Your Woman," and the regretful "A Lot to Let Go Of." She rallies again with the independence of "That's Just Me Getting Over You" and the funny "He Hates Me." But three string-laden power ballads is at least two too many, and "The One in the Middle," about giving her middle finger rather than her ring finger to a cheater, is just juvenile. As for the title track, its evocation of "raisin' beans and babies...twenty acres out in the boonies" is predictable country hokum. If any of these cuts connect with country radio, the album will have served its puropose, but next time through somebody needs to exercise more quality control. --Don McLeese