Steve Azar

After a fluke No. 2 hit in 2002, this indie-label Mississippi songster has proven a regular on the country chart's lower rungs for most of the decade; his fourth album's single "Moo La Moo," a deceptively good-timey goof about needing a cash cow in a bum economy, peaked at 49. In the bar-band mid-tempos surrounding it, Azar mostly pleads for women he's lost or he's hanging onto, often amid a noir-ish landscape of neon motels. He's best when letting his music stomp through the swamp. But if you're a dad with a teenage daughter, have tissues handy for "Take Your Time (Ryan's Song)."