fWe're just south of Nashville, in a comfortable neighborhood near the WSM tower. It's mid morning, a quiet spring day, and if you listen carefully you can follow two sounds to spot where Darryl Worley is laying down vocals for his current album "Here and Now".

The first is a deep bass bark of engineer Brian Willis' dog - a rather large and enthusiastic animal who, the engineer promises, is actually friendly, though he does point the way toward the recording studio's back door entrance, away from the part that's under the beast's control.

Once you're inside, another sound fades in, and you realize how long it's been since you've heard Worley's voice. You ease into the studio and glimpse of his 6'6'' frame, behind glass in the vocal booth, a smile on his face, his eyes closed, a mane of hair tumbling to his shoulders, warbling what promises to be the vocal hook of the year on "Nothin' But a Love Thang":

"Hello, sunshine, diddle-diddee, unh-huh, listen to the birds sing...call it what you want to, ain't nothin' but a love thang."

The beat is stomping. The music rocks, more like what you'd hear from the band at your favorite bar than from a state-of-the-art studio. Worley is savoring the lyric - and, when you see the video, you'll savor it too. Producer Frank Rogers beams and gives a thumbs-up. Even the dog has quieted down and tuned in. That when it hits home:

Darryl Worley has never sounded so good. Not only that - he's never sounded so muck like Darryl Worley.

Not, at least, since the world started listeninig.

If we could go back a few years, back to before his name became synonymous with charisma, soulful vocals, American pride and killer live show, we might have heard something like these songs during his sets in the local clubs, dances, and lodges around Pyburn, Tennessee. His music was raw back then, just like country music is supposed to be. He sand for working men and women - people who didn't like being told what to do.

People, that is, like Darryl Worley was back then and still is to this day.

This is the secret of "Here and Now". Worley today is his own man, in control of his music and his life. He looks the way he want to look. He's writing and singing the songs he wants to sing. He feels...

"...unleashed," Worley confirms, stretching out in the control booth between takes. "People have noticed it over the past few months; they're like, 'Man, what's got into you?' Well, I'm in a different place. The music I'm doing now gives me a sense of freedom. It's about going out and having a good time. It's about lifting the audience up. I mean, everybody knows that I've done songs that deal with a very serious subject matter. I've mean every word of those songs. They'll always be a huge part of who I am. But there's more to me than that."

He leans back, smiling, and the impression is undeniable: For all that he had accomplished, from the wistfully romantic, "I Miss My Friend" to the defiant, "Have You Forgotten?", both of whic topped the singles charrs, his work up to this point offers just one perspective on who he is and what he has to offer. On "Here and Now", Worley reveals himself truly, for the first time, as both an individual and an artist.

There's an exuberance in his declaration of personal and professional independence on "Jumpin' Off the Wagon", and in the swagger and strut of having a good time and not caring who knows it ("I'm already feeling more like my old self/That double shot of Dickel was a lot of help...I ain't fallin' - hell, I'm jumpin' off the wagon").

There's honesty, too, and compassion, in stories he pulls from life on songs like "Slow Dancing with a Memory," and in the daydreams that drift through "Nothing to Lose" ("I might buy me a bottle of five dollar booze / Give thanks for this shirt and this old pair of shoes / Build me a raft out of old inner tubes / Shove off and go for a cruise - hell, I ain't got nothin' to lose").

Then there's that steamy tale on "Love Thang" and more surprises to boot - all of which leads back to the "what's got into you" question.

Worley laughs. "Well, I've changed. I don't care as much anymore - I mean that in a positive way. I don't have anybody telling me who I am, how I should look, or what I can sing about. Again, I stand behind every song I've ever sung, but if all you knew about wme was what you've already heard, then you wouldn't know that when I'm out with my friends - say, at a biker bar in New York - I'm the life of the party. Only my friends know that I'm that guy too. and now I feel free to let everyone know who I am."

For the record, there's no question over what Darryl Worley is - namely, a country music phenomenon, a preacher's son and the grandson of a moonshiner from Pyburn, Tennessee, who won academic honors in high school and at the University of North Alabama, even while blowing off steam singing and partying hard on the honky-tonk circuit. His songwriting skills earned him a deal with Fame Publishing in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; a number of artists, including George Jones, cut some of his early tunes there. After two years, EMI Publishing signed him to their songwriting team, and in 1994, Worley moved to Nashville.

Shortly after his arrival he met Frank Rogers, whose production career was just taking off. In years to come Rogers would work with Brad Paisley, Phil Vassar, and other headliners, but from the moment he agreed to help Worley cut his first demo, they formed a creative partnership that's flourished through four releases on a four-year major-label run.

Success came quickly. The Academy of Country Music nominated Worley for Top New Male Vocalist in 2002. He also earned nomination from the Country Music Association for its Horizon Award in 2002 and '03 and Single of the Year and Song of the Year in 2003 for "Have You Forgotten?". The Tennessee House of Representatives cited him that same year for his contributions to country music. His fan base kept growing and his concerts regularly sold out.

Perhaps the high point of this period, though, involved Worley's visit in 2002 to meet and entertain our troops stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Uzbekistan. Transformed by the experience, he wrote and recorded "Have You Forgotte?," one of the most controversial and inspirational records of our time. Worley hasn't wavered in his support for those who put their lives on the line for democracy; over the past few years, he's repeated his trip and expanded it to include performances in Iraq. On the home front, he played a key role in organizing the annual American Freedom Festival to raise funds for our veterans.

"These are tough times," he sums up, "so when people pay to see a show, they want above all to have fun. And whether they're seeing me onstage or listening to "Here and Now".

At long last, the real Darryl Worley has arrived. You can't miss him - he's the one with the quick laugh and the voice that comes up from somewhere deep in the tradition of soulful country singing.