Ray Mason has always had a soft spot for country harmonies and steel guitars. But when the Northampton, Ma legend gets together with his Westhampton buddies, Jim Armenti and Bob Grant as the Lonesome Brothers, you can almost smell the hey in the barn and feel the rattle of that rusty old pickup underneath you.

Mason and Armenti are both great pop songwriters in their own right, and though they don't write together, they compliment each other's songs quite nicely. Mason's bass anchors Armenti's bubbling picking and crunchy chord bashing on songs like "Going Blind" and "Diesel Therapy." Both voices are distinct -- Mason's pleading tenor and Armenti's gritty drawl. Still, somehow, each manages to blend into the background when needed, or come to the forefront and carry the song. Compare two of the ballads -- Mason's "Remember to Forget" and Armenti's "Every Goodbye" -- and it's easy to see the emotional breadth the band is capable of. "The Big Shakedown" is as viable as any song The Band every committed to tape. With a capable supporting cast adding pedal and lap steel, and keyboards, and occasional strings, the Lonesome Brothers move comfortably from country tearjerk to bar boogie. "Diesel Therapy" is a fine album that deserves to break out of it's regional niche in western Massachusetts.