Dallas born, Palestine raised, Manor and Wimberley farmed, Marfa inspired, and Austin by way of outstanding family, Chris Jamison now counts as Asheville, North Carolina’s gain. Recorded at South Austin’s White Room Studios with local compadres, his fifth LP in a decade, Mindless Heart, belongs on our ledger still. Airy tenor crossing Josh Rouse and Paul Simon, the singer’s vocal yearn and its subtle echo sets a waking spell matched to an enveloping strum of acoustics, pedal steel, and mandolin – all polished with soft piano and crisped by organ. Mindless Heart marinates headier than fine spirits consumed alongside even finer grub, a warm, dizzying buzz of country-leaning folk that’s part Nashville Skyline (opener “More Love”), Lord Huron (“Wanderin'”), Rick Danko (“Lover’s Lane”), and Woody Guthrie, to whom Jamison perhaps offers up a harmonica-haunted original borrowing the title “Pretty Boy Floyd.” Mantelpiece heirloom all the way that latter track, which could’ve been the title cut. Melancholic (“Mindless Heart”) or spry (“Mystery Van”) – even outright sing-along (closer “Whole of My Heart”) – Chris Jamison is anyone’s dividend.

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This article appears in May 26 • 2017.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.