Following his first Christmas album, Home for the Holidays, when it came time to work on a new album, he and long- time producer Frank Rogers went in deep. “We wrote 50 songs, so it was really fun,” says Rucker. “I fell in love with so many demos, it was a matter of sitting down and having to throw things out—and that was the tough part, because there was so much great in these songs. Rucker’s fourth solo album as a country artist, reveals a sound and a spirit that bring him closer than ever to the genre’s fundamentals. From “Homegrown Honey” ’s country-girl-gone-uptown to the back- porch party in “Dixie Cup,” the thirteen songs on Southern Style are filled with the instruments and images that define a region and its musical traditions.