Home-spun country musicians are often mediocre and forgettable, but every now and then there is that diamond in the rough, one who showcases a high level of musicianship and pride in his music that makes it difficult to ignore.

Blanchard, Okla. native Jeremy Castle has done just that with "For a While."

Blanchard is only 16 miles from Norman, and the local association makes the album even more accessible. Honestly, how many songs reference the riverwalk in Bricktown?

Throughout the record, Castle proves himself a capable singer and songwriter, embracing the values of standard country music while drawing upon a range of influences and not giving in to the country pitfall of chirpy vocals.

In order to keep things interesting, Castle throws in some south of the border flavor on "Hey, Senorita," honky-tonk on "Who's Your Daddy," and jazz on "You Don't Really Care About Me." This saves the album from drowning in a sea of acoustic guitars, but that's not to say that the guitar playing is bad. It's just nice to have some variety.

Castle uses some humor to his advantage on the rapid-fire track "Zero," a song about a girl that either is playing amazingly hard to get or is truly disgusted by him.

Basically, this album is a straightforward, quality country record with very little filler. There are not any tracks that seem out of place or worthy of being skipped. Most tracks clock in at around two and a half minutes, so even if a track doesn't meet with the listener's liking, it is soon over anyways.

While this album is without glitzy production or overzealous promotion, it is very pop-sensible and easy to listen to. Castle describes his homemade sound on the record, as he sings, "You won't see me on CMT, and that's alright with me." While he seems confident about this, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.