Every now and then a CD will find its way onto your stereo and proceed to stomp both your ass and ears into the ground. Stace England's Greetings From Cairo, Illinois is one of those discs, an ambitious work of staggering brilliance and stunning confidence. England's inspired mix of rock, folk, blues and country defies pigeonholing. This is simply American music, damn it, the end game of a century of stylistic cross-pollination that started with Delta field hollers and stopped in Cairo on its way to Chicago, Detroit and destinations both east and west. England's mastery of the style is impressive, forged by years of recording and live performances.

Sitting astride both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in southern Illinois, Cairo is a mystery to most Americans. A busy shipping port on two great rivers and a jumping off point for a fair number of former slaves and sharecroppers headed north from Mississippi, Cairo has struggled with its identity for decades. Greetings From Cairo, Illinois is ostensibly a concept album, England recounting the history of his fair city from 1858 through the Civil War, the Delta migration of the 1940s and '50s, the struggle for civil rights and so on into the new millennium. At its heart, however, these songs about Cairo are also about America at large -- the racial tensions, the poverty, the economic injustice and the religious oppression suffered by the average person as they search for dignity amidst the ever-changing currents of history.

Greetings From Cairo, Illinois is an engaging song cycle, kicking off with the traditional "Going Down To Cairo," a mid-1850s folksong song a cappella. A fine cover of Henry Spaulding's classic "Cairo Blues" opens the door for England's original observations on the city that follow. The county-rocker "Grant Slept Here" offers some solid snaking six-string work beneath its Civil War history lesson and "Equal Opportunity Lynch Mob" is a folk-styled accounting of Cairo's violent history that recalls Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" in its dark imagery. "The North Starts In Cairo" is a rollicking tale of segregation and freedom during the Delta migration.

Three powerful songs tackle the issue of race in Cairo. "Far From The Tree," with a slashing recurring riff and loping bassline, is a dark-hued tale of fear and paranoia in the city while "White Hats" remembers a violent 1967 incident that led to rioting in the city, the disturbing lyrics supported by red-hot slide guitar work. The funky, R&B flavored "Jesse's Comin' To Town" recounts Jesse Jackson's 1969 visit to the city in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, his appearance providing a beacon of hope for the beleaguered African-American residents of Cairo. The song's Stax styling and tasteful horn charts place the soul of the song right in the heart of the era.

Jason Ringenberg and guitarist George Bradfute pitch in on "Prosperity Train," sounding more like a Jason & the Scorchers rave-up than anything else on the album does. The tune simply rocks, England's lyrics mourning the loss of Cairo's Main Street while Jason hits the mouth harp like a frenzied dervish. "Buy My Votes" is a Sonny Landreth-styled swamp rocker, England's bluesy vocals matched by dirty, intense slidework. Greetings From Cairo, Illinois closes with "Can't We All Get Along," a countryish tune that concludes that the trials and tribulations for Cairo will never end as long as greed and corruption continue to grip the city's leaders. It's a strong political statement with engaging instrumentation and more than a little reckless spirit.

Stace England's warm vocals come across as a mix of John Hiatt's gravel-throated, blue-eyed soul and Dan Baird's rootsy southern twang and his songwriting skills show endless possibilities. After five years of research into the city that England calls home, he's accomplished what many artists have tried and failed to do -- capture the essence of their hometown in song. After listening to Greetings From Cairo, Illinois you'll feel the heat of the city's streets and smell the rush of the rivers as they run past Cairo.