Texas has always turned out great talent. The Golden Triangle has had more than its share, with greats like Joplin, the Winter brothers, and country music icons Clay Walker and Mark Chesnutt, to name a few. Now, grab your best two-step partner and hold on tight, because lightning is striking again in East Texas as Kountze is home to Ty Phillips. This young Texan has what it takes to be a mainstream country music superstar. His self-titled debut offering (Shooting Star Records) is produced by Clayton Ryder (assisted by Dan Frizsell), and if you take nothing else from this CD, you have to know that the production is one of the best I've heard in years. I've always considered Keith Stegall to be one of the best producers in Nashville, but Ryder excels on this project and may have even eclipsed Stegall's standards. Hats off to Joe Dockens for pairing Ryder with Phillips. This disc is pure country music from the Texas swing of "Texas Front Porch Swing" and "Two Step Swing" to the flawless waltz, "Where Getting Over You Has Gotten Me." Yes, there are two-stepping, buckle-polishing songs, too. "Girl For Me" and "I'm Not Through Loving You" have all the elements of top ten hits, as does "Where I Wanna Be." All three of the latter were co-written by Phillips and Linda Dockens. A personal favorite is "Small Town." Ty Phillips has studied the formula for writing hit songs while remembering to capture the human element, foregoing the temptation to be superficial. His voice is country and Texan, full bodied and personal, making it easy to imagine that he's singing directly to the listener. The instrumentation on this disc is masterful and complimentary to the songs. A hit-maker is among us. You're going to hear a lot from Ty Phillips. You can start your journey as a Ty Phillips fan by getting his debut CD today for only $13.99! Another mytexasmusic.com exclusive!