01.05.05 Mountain Xpress Music Last Call Ultimately, it's the conflicted singer/songwriter who resides at the heart of that whole alt-country thing. Young Stephen Simmons, a Cannon County, Tenn. native who has since made his way to the bloated, hard-to-get-noticed-at-all Nashville scene, understands this dichotomy as well as anyone. And he makes excellent use of those conflicts in his own heartfelt approach to the genre. Once in Music City (a town where most new arrivals need three-to-five years just to get their foot in the door), Simmons caught some keen ears with his self-released EP, and he now has their full attention with his first full-length record, Last Call. The brooding release explores the dark-sided moral dilemmas of rural life - namely church life - and his refined-grit approach has garnered comparisons to "a more subdued Steve Earle" and a "more grounded Ryan Adams." Come feel the joyous pain at The Town Pump on Friday, Jan. 7.