Honky-tonk jams like “Flying Colors” and “Lucky Dog” reserve you a stool at the kind of rowdy clubs the Kentucky singer had been playing since age 15. But Whitley’s rich, tender baritone brings ballads to life, too. Don't Close Your Eyes has dagger-wielding heartbreakers and wedding-worthy love songs, like the title track, in which he reaches out to a distant lover with a warmth and openness that invokes George Jones. "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" nails a feeling that’s even more elusive: tentative, melancholy triumph.