"A wounded heart is often slow/to finally let an old love go." It's only thirteen words, but it's hard to imagine a more perfect summary of a romance in tatters than that sublime couplet, soulfully sung by Greg Nagy on this album you now hold in your hands. Poetic in its simplicity yet as profound as any classic lyric by Percy Mayfield or Don Covay, "I Won't Give Up" and the rest of the album "Stranded" goes on to become a statement of purpose, a resolution to soldier on in the face of personal tragedy. For Nagy, a Michigan-based singer-songwriter and guitarist whose star has been on the rise since the release of his acclaimed 2008 debut Walk That Fine Thin Line, that sort of resilience is what the blues is all about. "The idea is that you do eventually get through heartbreak and pain and learn to celebrate life once again" he says. "For me, the greatest thing was when I ran into a Facebook friend who told me, 'I went through a divorce, and wake up to your song on my alarm clock every morning. It gives me hope...' I think if you can make other people feel less alone or help them celebrate their triumphs that's the best success any artist can truly have." Many of the songs on Stranded were inspired by Nagy's own dissolution of a 24 year marriage, an event that fueled some of the most impassioned vocal performances of his career thus far. Sounding urgently melodic on the new original "Stranded," wailing solemnly on a dramatic version of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City," or wringing every nuance from the peaceful, tender "Welcome Home," Nagy proves himself to be a modern master of phrasing and intonation. Yet everything sounds natural, not fussed-over, as if each syllable was sculpted from the innate contours of his heart. Also known as a formidable guitarist, his guitar playing is always in service of the songs at hand, as is the work of the other performers -- including guest artist Zach Zunis, who lends his six-string to the fiery, irresistible "Sometimes.” "I like to be soulfully communicative," says Nagy, "to use music to reach people, to connect, to make us all feel a little less alone." On his third album, he does just that. If the blues is an expression of healing, of transforming pain into promise, then Nagy is using his to show others that healing is always possible. The music business has a way of trying to turn art into products that are easily categorized for consumption, in the same way that farmers have begun selling genetically engineered, cube-shaped tomatoes that are more easily stacked in boxes. But there's nothing square about Greg Nagy's music. It's as round as the world we live in. With Stranded, he has succeeded in creating a set of songs that transcend predetermined soul and blues boxes, hit organically home, and sound utterly universal. -Ken Bays Writer for Rollingstone.com, About.com, and former editor for Blues Revue