Glenn Jochum’s latest album, Frank’s Truck Stop, is a joy to listen to. Fans of roots and country rock will find so much to enjoy in this collection of songs. Jochum has a soulful, sincere voice that really engages you, and the playing of Don Cerce Jr. complements it perfectly. Cerce is an amazing player and an inductee of the New York State Country Music Hall of Fame who brings his talents to this record. His emotive playing is a fine counterpoint to Jochum’s singing and lyrics—they’re quite a dynamic duo.

“Rose in her Hair” starts off the fun—Glenn gives us a bluesy vision of better days here, singing “Come share the vision that life on the land brings/Come see the world with an innocent face” advice that all of us can take to heart in these hyper-connected, tumultuous days. You have to like his optimism here– it’s infectious.

The title song is a jaunty, fun tune that evokes a place where ‘We’re down-home folks, who like telling jokes, where food tastes like the frying pan.’ It’s a song that reminded me of listening to country music with my dad when I was growing up in the 80s, and would feel right at home in your collection of Glen Campbell or Johnny Cash albums. It’s a neat trick to tell a story and evoke a little world out of time in just three minutes, but Glenn accomplishes that here, has you tapping your feet along with the song, and he makes it sound easy.

No collection of country tunes would be complete without a heartbreaking tale of loss, and Glenn doesn’t disappoint, with “Smithereens,” among other tunes. “I can see the misty mountains…but I’ll never see this place again, cause I sabotaged my dreams…I smashed it all to smithereens,” he croons, and you can hear the regret and sadness in his voice. It’s not the cheeriest thought, but sung with such conviction and sureness that you can’t feel too sad about it. Like the best blues and country songs, it leaves you wanting more. Reflections is another song that speaks to loss and love, a brooding, sad tale of a broken relationship.

Copyright Blues is my favorite song on this collection. It has the kind of humor that I love in music, and Glenn is great at this sort of song. “Everybody told me about you, they all said that you would leave me blue, but I didn’t mind, my love for you was blind,” he sings, and you can almost see him grinning through the blues. “They might steal your copyright and walk away from you,” he says, concluding that he’s going to confiscate pictures of his lover and toss them in the sea to exorcise his loss. If you’re heartbroken and need to see the humor in it, this is the song for you. I was laughing at the image. It’s excellent advice for the broken-hearted. “What if?” is another great song in this vein, where he’s musing on the uncertainties of life and songwriting.

The other songs on this album are just as good as the ones I’ve highlighted. It’s been on rotation in my collection since I bought it, and I hope it will be in yours, too. Glenn is a poet, a fine songwriter, and if you enjoy your country and blues with a dash of humor, you’ll be happy you got this record.