Lonestar (album)

The album's lead-off single was "Tequila Talkin'", which reached a peak of number eight on the Billboard country charts. Following this song was the band's first number-one hit, "No News" (the B-side to "Tequila Talkin'"), which spent three weeks at the top of the country charts. "Runnin' Away With My Heart" also peaked at number eight, followed by the number 45 "When Cowboys Didn't Dance" (which was much more successful in Canada, peaking at number 18 there), and finally, the number eighteen "Heartbroke Every Day".[2] The latter overlapped on the charts with "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now," a duet between Lonestar's then-lead singer Richie McDonald and Mindy McCready, who also recorded on BNA at the time.[3]

Also included on the album is a cover of Roy Clark's 1982 single "Paradise Knife and Gun Club".

The album received mixed critical reception. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four stars out of five in his Allmusic review, where he called the album's sound "an accomplished and impassioned hardcore honky tonk."[4] Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time magazine gave a mostly-favorable review, saying that the album was "solid [and] traditional," but also saying "Lonestar seems very similar to Shenandoah — energetic and fun, but not spectacular."[5] Rick Mitchell of New Country magazine gave a one-and-a-half star rating, with his review criticizing the album for relying on a large number of studio musicians and background singers, and calling the sound "lite rock with a twang."[6]

As listed in liner notes.[1]

Lonestar

• Michael Britt – electric guitar, B-Bender guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Richie McDonald – lead vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10), background vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
• Keech Rainwater – drums
• John Rich – lead vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 9), background vocals, bass guitar
• Dean Sams – piano, keyboards, harmonica, acoustic guitar, background vocals

Additional musicians

• Bruce Bouton – pedal steel guitar, slide guitar
• Dennis Burnside – piano, keyboards, B-3 organ
• Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle, "assorted hoe-down tools"
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Nashville String Machine – strings
• Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
• John Wesley Ryles – background vocals
• John Willis – electric guitar, electric sitar
• Lonnie Wilson – drums, percussion, hand claps
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar
• Curtis "Mr. Harmony" Young – background vocals