The alt.country world is an interesting one. Not quite country, not quite rock, it has become an American favorite.

Fort Worth, Texas-based, Collin Herring knows the true meaning of alternative country. His first album, Avoiding the Circus, which came out in 2002, was recorded live in its entirety and called "one hell of a debut" by Harp Magazine and declared Album of the Year by the Fort Worth Weekly.

Collin's father, Ben Roi, is present on The Other Side of Kindness , adding nice pedal steel, organ, piano and accordion to the album. Two of the songs are strictly instrumental, "Headliner" and "Flower Mound", both with beautiful violin, which gives the feel of an unique orchestra without losing the charm of Southern country and the typical themes it carries: bad luck and bad love.

"Back Of Your Mind" starts the album with a roots rock bang. It has plenty of grit to keep true country fans happy, plus original, melodic rock hooks to keep rock fans happy.

"Sinkhole of Love" is a dusty country tune which brings to mind images of a lonely desert road and late night driving with the windows rolled down. While it is a bit on the predictable side, it also features some amazing vocals and and twangy guitars.

Two songs break the mold on The Other Side of Kindness, "Lazy Wind" and "Into The Morning". "Lazy Wind" has a bit of a country/rock fuzz going on that sounds like Collin himself is standing in your stereo speakers telling you the tale of "Lazy Wind". Both songs feature a distortion that is not typically found in the alt.country world, let alone in the country world. "Lazy Wind" is probably my favorite song on the album because it's very out there and unlike any alt.country song I've ever heard, which probably means it's going to have a hard time being accepted by country music aficionados.

The whole album, with the exception of "Back Of Your Mind", "Lazy Wind" and "Into The Morning" doesn't really cause much of a stir in the way of excitement and tends to not push any more borders. Sadly, the rock that was so present in "Back Of Your Mind" fails to make another appearance on any of the other tracks, keeping more of a country feel to the album until the end.

While Collin is pushing the borders with The Other Side of Kindness, it still is obvious alt.country, which means if you weren't a fan of that genre before, you probably won't enjoy the album, but you might just become a bit more curious about it.

Complete track listing:
Back Of Your Mind
Aphorism
Sinkhole of Love
Lazy Wind
Headliner
Nobody Much Longer
Flower Mound
Motorcade
Into The Morning
Cauterize