Wade Hayes' Old Enough to Know Better was the only debut country album of 1995 to be certified gold, and it yielded four top-10 singles. Chart success wasn't the only thing that separated this 27-year-old Oklahoman from the baby-hat pack, for Hayes also has a deep, twang-filled, day-job-toughened, saloon-cured baritone that marks him as a real honky-tonk singer and not just some Eagles imitator in search of a contract. Hayes' sophomore album, On a Good Night, doesn't have as many knockout songs as his freshman effort, but it confirms that he has a very special voice, one that is likely to hang around the country scene for many years to come. --Geoffrey Himes
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