Corey Christiansen: Lone Prairie

Much like the soundscapes jazz guitarists Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny have recorded, Lone Prairie has its pastoral charms. But in revealing the breadth of his musical education, or at least a significant measure of it, Corey Christiansen draws from a variety of influences-folk, country, rock, blues, funk, jazz-with as much ingenuity as finesse.

That’s no small feat-not when you consider the ease with which Christiansen navigates the fretboard, whether favoring escalating pentatonic runs, slippery jazz chromaticism or sophisticated harmony. He’s no slouch, too, when it comes to colorfully deploying effects or reveling in twang. In fact, nothing on Lone Prairie proves more engaging than Christiansen’s version of “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” reimagined as a thoroughly hip and witty take on honky-tonk.