Hidden within the insular confines of country radio are some of America's most talented – and overlooked – musicians. One such outfit is the Desert Rose Band, a Southern California sextet that seamlessly mixes pop smarts with country traditionalism and thematic sophistication.

On Pages of Life, its fine third album, the Desert Rose Band clearly reveals its unique musical chemistry. Frontman Chris Hillman, the pioneer who helped lead the Byrds into country territory and founded the Flying Burrito Brothers, has an ear for the sly melody and a voice notable for its smoothness and precision. Singer and guitarist Herb Pedersen fashions ethereal harmonies ("Story of Love") and enlivens the band's sound with bluegrass accents and acoustic string textures in "Desert Rose" and "Missing You."

Lead guitarist and arranger John Jorgenson provides an inventive counterpoint to the group's traditional approach. He edges Hillman and the supple rhythm section of drummer Steve Duncan and bassist Bill Bryson toward pure pop immediacy with prickly leads, flurries of terse hooks and ringing Rickenbacker chords. Pedal steel guitarist Jay Dee Maness provides all the right twangy punctuations in the true Bakersfield style.

The maturity and sensitivity of the Desert Rose Band's lyrics also set the group apart from both the country and pop mainstreams. Christian agape ("Story of Love"), the loss of values ("Darkness on the Playground") and parental fears ("Our Baby's Gone") are sticky subjects; the band addresses them in a disarmingly direct manner and balances them with deceptively breezy melodies. Expansive and frank, the Desert Rose Band transcends the boundaries of typical country music – and, likewise, deserves to transcend that music's segregated listenership. (RS 577)

DAVID WYKOFF