James Intveld

In a long line of heart-throbbing rockabilly crooners, from Gene Vincent to Dwight Yoakam, James Intveld is one of the finest best-kept secrets. Like Yoakam, Intveld woodshedded in the roots punk clubs of LA in the '80s and has since ventured into film and TV, notably as Johnny Depp's ventriloquist in Cry-Baby and beside Billy Bob Thornton in Chrystal. He's a stately, utterly unaffected country singer who can evoke the lonely, existential nuances of a gospel hymn, or sparkle and swing like a wallet chain on a Saturday night. On last year's Have Faith, Intveld sweetened his Bakersfield sound with Nashville fiddles, piano and Jordanaire harmonies, laying down exacting guitar licks and writing the kind of classic heartache set-pieces that prove why he's a rockabilly hall of famer.