Brad Paisley w/ The Band Perry and Scotty McCreery

Contemporary country is woefully short on proud progressives. Though Brad Paisley doesn't try to fill the void, he happily spoke for the more open-minded contingent of country audiences on his bright-eyed 2009 album <i>American Saturday Night</i>, which looked beyond pickup trucks and small-town values to celebrate American marvels that his country peers sometimes ignore, including multiculturalism, marvelous technological advances and the remarkable capacity to embrace change. It was one of the only hit country albums that welcomed the nation's first black president with open, unsuspicious arms. Paisley's latest album, <i>This Is Country Music</i>, isn't as refreshingly forward-looking, but it's another solid work from the country vet, nicely balancing Paisley's neo-traditionalist, honky-tonk instincts with his poppier impulses. Paisley shares this bill with the sibling trio The Band Perry, which recorded country's most bittersweet 2010 hit, “If I Die Young,” and “American Idol” victor Scotty McCreery. <P>