The Mavericks

His voice as big and dark as his black Stetson, Raul Malo hints at Roy Orbison's scary sadness
– and that, along with the ensemble precision of the Mavericks, makes for country music
that kicks. Last year's From Hell to Paradise was a cool major-label debut; this disc is
sharper. These cowboys hail from Miami, but their psychic reference point is Western –
the band's snap recalls Buck Owens – and their covers (Springsteen's "All That H... More >

The best Cuban American Texas music Nashville can capitalize ("All That Heaven Will Allow," "There Goes My Heart," "I Should Have Been True")