Chuck Prophet may be familiar to listeners from his many years in the seminal American underground band, Green on Red, whom I always loved. Prophet is a chronicler of America's nights and highways, one of those songwriters who finds the country's essence in it cracks and margins - and in its cracked and marginal characters. He's also a fabulous guitar player - at once raw and lyrical. My only hesitation in choosing "Would You Love Me?" as the featured track is that it doesn't really showcase his guitar playing. It's a ballad with the lovely textural touch of a children's choir, which lends an air of innocence to a song that evokes Jesus, Anna Nicole Smith and Elvis Presley, a triad that combines the genius, luridness, desperation and spiritual ambition essential to the American soul.

- Anthony DeCurtis