Red-clay rock. Music with real roots—dug deep in the sound of Georgia. That sort of roots beauty you find in more progressive locales from Athens to Chapel Hill. That's what Eric Johnson and his band f/stop bring.

Why f/stop? Johnson, among his prodigious musical gifts (he wrote, recorded, mixed and played nearly all the instruments on f/stop's debut last day of fall) is a brilliant wordsmith—able to create songs that are like snapshots of a life we all recognize. Hence, f/stop.

With a voice in the neighborhood of Matthew Ryan's throaty growl fronting a band that sounds like a merger of fellow Athenians the Drive-by Truckers and Vigilantes of Love, fans of Uncle Tupelo and The Jayhawks will find something to dig here. And dig you will.

As you can't stop yourself from singing along, like on opening track "Crowded Streets" or the fast-moving "Athens", but especially on the centerpiece—"Weapon"—find yourself transported into these songs-stories. Transcendent, just as good rock 'n' roll ought to be.