If nostalgia runs in cycles of 20 to 25 years, could Pewaukee country singer Dan Lepien be any timelier? His four-song debut, EP, sounds like the lost singles of a “hat act” vying with Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson for mid-’90s radio spins. But Lepien moves that era’s influences in directions suiting his own lyrical and musical prerogatives. A stab at high beats-per-minute line dance fare reflects on how his hometown “ain’t that bad” after he’s seen sights far afield. Conversely, he deigns to exclude drums entirely from an ode of gratitude to a beleaguered diner waitress; its interplay between banjo and acoustic and steel guitars leaves it no less rich for its absence of percussion.
Elsewhere, Lepien brings his own touch to Clint Black’s sense of reasonable reflection on honky-tonkin’ romantic dejection and Gary Allen’s sensitive machismo. With commercial country’s current—if slow—reembrace of the genre’s traditional sonic elements, Lepien’s solid songwriting, just glossy enough production and distinct but familiar vocal phrasing put him in serious contention for national attention if he chooses to pursue it. Here’s trusting a full album furthers the promise of what he offers here.
