Jefferson Grizzard came from a small town in Georgia, and his debut is A Crack in the Door, the product of his home, his musical upbringing and his songwriting habits. A songwriter since he was a kid, Grizzard had scribbled out enough lyrics by age 18 to have impressed Ryan Adams. Like so many young contemporaries, Grizzard’s sound imitates the greats that spun on their parents’ record players. A Crack bears generous similarities to Dylan and Young, as well as hints of The Band, Skynard, Ryan Adams, The Highwaymen and far too many more to list.

Immediately, on the opener “Forces They Fail,” Grizzard establishes the spare, twangy, southern-plus-something-else sense of melody that channels Young with an unassuming little electric melody backing a haphazard philosophical daydream: “If all forces that fail are originally good/and if nothin’ is real/how can I make myself feel/like I know I should.”

The Traveling Wilburys-esque chug-a-lug of “Since You Came Around” sounds as if as if Tom Petty or Roy Orbison should be switching off verses with Grizzard, and tracks like “Alaska” and “Puppet Show” have the same hushed beauty as those Dylan songs when he decides to soften his rustic vocals and woo the listener.

Dennis Wage’s keys ooze, bleed and crash over a somber stretch of guitar on “Burned Out Son,” bringing to mind something off Ryan Adams’ Cold Roses, and “Poisoned” has all the nighttime-car-ride charm of Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever. Some understated but killer bass from Dow Tomlin bubbles up rather sexy-like amidst the Van Morrison-ish reeds and brass of “I Got the Spirit,” which conjure a sort of burlesque-show image.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of Grizzard’s songwriting on the album, however, is the fact that he can create a full story with only about four lines repeating (“Horseleg Road”), one of the most prominent talents of a country artist. If this is Grizzard’s debut, it seems like he will only get better from here.