Artist: Michael Grimm

Title: Michael Grimm

Label: Syco Music/Epic

Straight to the point, America's Got Talent fifth season winner Michael Grimm has made good on his victory and done right by the fans with this pitch-perfect major label debut.

Rising from a Mississippi trailer park to the Las Vegas performing circuit, he sought reality television to help his grandparents who lost their home in Hurricane Katrina. Now he pours that million-dollar voice over a satisfying mix of well-fit cover songs and hearty originals, capturing the spirit of his back-story and a sound he calls "soulful Americana."

Aided by top producer Don Was (Bonnie Raitt) and a crack band of seasoned musicians including drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty), B-3 organ player Ian McLagan (Bob Dylan), guitarist Waddy Wachtel (James Taylor), bassist Davey Faragher (Elton John), and multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz (The Eagles), Grimm sounds totally comfortable among these legends—talented indeed. And he holds his own vocally in duets with Heart's Ann Wilson (on a combustible run through Buddy and Julie Miller's bluesy "Gasoline and Matches") and Travis Tritt (covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man").

Michael is smart to emphasize other people's tunes up front, letting listeners hear what his dynamic pipes—a sure blend of rock, pop, and R&B influences from Joe Cocker to Michael Bolton to Al Green—can do with classic material. Changing his tone from graceful to growling as needed, he sails through Otis Redding (the funky "Champagne and Wine"), Rod Stewart's old band The Faces (a boisterous "Stay with Me"), and right up to Alicia Keys (a cool take on "Fallin'"). Grimm's plaintive interpretation of Eddy Arnold's "You Don't Know Me"—his Talent audition song—is also shining here.

There's just as much to compliment in the 31-year-old's own songwriting. Like most of these numbers, "Something I Said" is a creative work—this one especially radio-ready with its bright mandolin hook—concerned with the depths of romance. Other thoughtful originals "Suddenly You Are" and "I Am" have a John Mayer vibe and come across as more lyrically sensitive compared to the wild streak insinuated in a couple of the covers.

Certainly, this is rock-n-roll, so the message isn't always squeaky clean. But from helping his grandparents to proposing to his girlfriend on The Ellen DeGeneres Show the day after his big win; Michael Grimm appears to have as much character as he does talent. Beyond the "instant celebrity" introductory clause, he's a career artist in the making.

*This Article first published 5/26/2011