Michael O’Neill is one of those names you should know, but probably don’t.

Starting his career in the early ‘80s in a band that opened for the then-unknown U2, by the time the tour ended in Los Angeles, he had been signed to a management deal with the legendary Don Arden. An album followed featuring such luminaries as Kenny Gradney of Little Feat, sax-man Boney James, and John Shanks, who nowadays is uber-famous for producing Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and many others. This led to touring with Stevie Ray Vaughan and writing songs with Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MGs, Blues Brothers), and John Scheff (Chicago) for the next 10 years or so.

Then, suddenly, he gave it all up to move back to his home in the Pacific Northwest to raise horses and concentrate on family. Years later, he returned to the scene with “Dream On,” gaining nationwide airplay and critical acclaim. “Who’s Bad Now” followed in 2006 and ran up the Americana chart. Fast forward to 2010, and O’Neill crashes onto the scene again, with his new collection, “Ain’t Leavin’ Your Love,” a fine collection of 10 great Americana, country, and country-rock songs. Featuring guest appearances by Regina and Anne McCrary, Will Sexton, Randy Kohrs, Tim Crouch, Carl Broemel and many others, the performances are stellar and the songs are solid.

The album opens with a wonderful version of Townes Van Zandt’s classic which serves as the album's title cut, and is followed by O’Neill originals, one co-written with Keith Sykes, and two others co-written with Templeton Thompson and Sam Gay. This is one of those albums about which you can say there’s not a stinker in there! Solid throughout, “Ain’t Leavin’ Your Love” will keep you coming back for more.

Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at wildmansteve.com.