The best thing about Ryan Curtis' albums is his ability to to cover all country subgenres: ballads, western music, honky-tonk and country rock are all in his oeuvre. Ain't Ever Easy is the best example yet. With a hoarse he grunts, sketching cinematic images of people from the Midwest and the badlands; down and out townies, bar room drifters, lonely ones lovers and resilient loners fill his visionary stories.