Tony Rich's career is off to a fast start, thanks to the enormous radio acceptance of his "Nobody Knows" single, a melancholy expression of romantic heartache with a wonderfully accessible coat of sweet, country-accented soul. But that track only offers a minor glimpse of the ambition and vision of this remarkably talented newcomer from Detroit.
Equally adept at stylish, mainstream love songs or adventurous, off-center tunes that chronicle social misdeeds or misunderstandings in unexpected ways, the writer-producer-singer-instrumentalist comes across as funkier Babyface or, perhaps, an understated (and less predictable, these days) Prince.
