BIG & RICH

They are America's Technicolor cowboys, brothers-in-arms in service to the creed that great music has no boundaries. Individually, John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin are first-rate musicians, songwriters, producers and entertainers. Together, they are one of the most truly original musical forces ever unleashed on a welcoming world. With the release of Hillbilly Jedi, they reassert their position as modern music's best party soundtrack with songs like "Party Like Cowboyz," "Rock the Boat" and "Get Your Game On." As might be expected, though, given the wide sweep of their talent, they do a great deal more. Their music has always displayed great range, with well-crafted songs about love, loss, patriotism and social issues all interspersed among those party anthems, and that is especially true here. Hillbilly Jedi covers a great deal of stylistic ground, from "Last Words," which John describes as "Roy Orbison meets Queen," and "Lay It All On Me," a meditation on happiness and love set amid a hauntingly beautiful track complete with choir, to "'Cause I Play Guitar," a bluesy bauble celebrating the fruits of the rocking life. And if there is any doubt about the anticipation level for this, their first album since 2007's Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, it can be put to rest by the fact that Hillbilly Jedi's lead single, "That's Why I Pray," became their fastest riser since "Lost In This Moment," which climbed to the top of the charts five years earlier. A topical spiritual anthem, "That's Why I Pray" is the cry of a battered but hopeful soul in a world whose turmoil is splattered 24/7 across the world's airwaves, brought to life by two artists adept at capturing real emotional resonance. It is also a song that displays the pair's willingness to reach beyond their own formidable songwriting talents as they seek to make the best possible music.