Darryl Lee Rush

East Dallas resident Darryl Lee Rush is the kind of gritty and straightforward songwriter that gives country music a chance to escape its seemingly endless fixation with bodacious blondes and mullet-addled super patriots. Instead of the slick gloss of contemporary Nashville or the big hat/no brains bravado of the likes of Toby Keith, Darryl Lee Rush thankfully settles for authenticity and keen observation. Rush's 2005 debut, Llano Avenue, was filled with astute character sketches and just the right amount of hayseed credibility. Along with rightly sentimental originals such as the title cut, even Rush's bluegrass infused cover of "Life in the Fast Lane" carried a healthy amount of respect for country music's legacy and an equal portion of disdain for the genre's continued embrace of mundane superficiality. Currently working on his sophomore release, Darryl Lee Rush is the real deal just begging for a larger following.