Ask Bonnie Raitt, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), or Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers Band), and they'll tell you their favorite contemporary Southern songwriter may well be Randall Bramblett. After working closely with Steve Winwood (16 years!), Widespread Panic, Gregg Allman, Levon Helm, Gov't Mule and others all this time, he's incorporated a surprising array of styles into his own work. Many people are calling his new album The Bright Spots (New West Records) among his strongest works yet. Some of us here at WNCW can't argue with that.