Dove Brothers

Hold On
Sonlite/Crossroads

Who knew there was a soulful country crooner hiding deep down under McCray Dove’s percussive, bombastic exterior? On the title cut from “Hold On,” he sounds a lot like Randy Travis with a hint of the “old possum” George Jones. The lyric is timely, too: “Hold on, just a little longer. Help is on the way. I can feel it getting stronger.”

“Hold On” includes five cover songs. David Hester sings the melody of Rusty Goodman’s classic “Leavin’ on My Mind” in his baritone range, dropping to bass when the rest of the group joins him on the choruses. Eric Dove is featured on a 1970s forgotten gem by the Oak Ridge Boys, “He’s Gonna Smile on Me.” For Anne Murray’s “A Little Good News,” a new line is inserted at the beginning and end of the song to frame the underlying point of the lyric in a gospel context. “Little David” features Hester, even though he’s the tallest guy in the group. Still I guess he was the obvious choice since his name is David. The closing song is a remake of Karen Peck’s “He’s Sending Miracles.”

The other four songs include a Louisiana fiddle-driven song and three barn burners. “Hold On” has something for every past and present fan of the Dove Brothers, whether you first discovered them when they were doing Statesmen remakes or if you were introduced to them through the success of “I Can Pray.” They’ve managed to compile a variety of styles on this CD without having it sound like a collection that was thrown together at random.

(By David Bruce Murray)