For some of the truly talented, music is a powerful magnet, an elemental force of nature that cannot be denied. Or as country singer-songwriter Jacob Lyda puts it, “Music chose me. I didn’t choose it.” He has created an album of truth, poetry and drama. Jacob Lyda sings country music like a modern master of the genre, and his songs command your attention in the same way that country classics do. These instant classics have two things in common. First, Jacob wrote all of them. Second, they are sung by his world-class voice. Jacob Lyda’s richly textured honky-tonk vocal style stems directly from his background. This is an artist who was born to sing country music. Merle Haggard, George Jones, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley and other hardcore country stylists formed the soundtrack of his youth. Jacob was raised in Jackson County in the northeast corner of Alabama. Glenn, his father, was a pipe fitter for the TVA. Annette, his mother, was a bank teller. “I never did start out going, ‘Yeah, I want to play music.’ Nothing like that. I just did it. I was hoping somebody would discover me. I remember going to the record companies. I couldn’t even get past their secretaries. But I’d leave music with them. “I was doing everything I could, but at times it still didn’t seem like I was getting anywhere. I felt like I was trapped. One thing that kept me going was being backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. Whenever I was ready to pack it up and leave, I’d stand back there, and, man, that