Blessed or Damned pretty much picks up where
Watson's 1995 debut,
Cheatin' Heart Attack, left off. He pines for "A Real Country Song" on modern radio, sings praises for his adopted state on "That's What I Like About Texas" (a good-natured duet with
Johnny "Whiskey River" Bush), and wonders at the fate of his chosen musical genre on the moving title track.
Watson may have no surprise ace in the hole on
Blessed or Damned, but it's nonetheless a solid hand of fresh, invigorating material. ~ Kurt Wolff