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Johnny Dilks & His Visitacion Valley Boys Acres of Heartache 1999, HMG Charlie Louvin (of the Louvin Brothers) praises Johnny Dilks as being "serious about his music," and although the man looks too young and hip to be this hillbilly, his music is the real deal. With his Visitacion Valley Boys, Dilks sounds like a true low-tech redneck. His singing often escalates to a convincing yodel ("Yodel Till I Turn Blue"), but he’s just as likely to wax topical ("The Check’s In The Mail") or pseudo-historical ("Stalin Kicked The Bucket"). It’s hard to tell if all this attire and attitude is an act, or actually his true musical love. Even if this is only musical theater, Dilks is a convincing actor, especially when you consider how few of today’s "real" country performers know anything about the music they walk in the footsteps of. "Acres of Heartache" maybe inspired by the geography of a broken heart, but it still might do your merely lonesome heart some good. —Dan MacIntosh