In the two years since his first album came out, Jason Michael Carroll has become a certifiable big deal -- two top-five country singles, a chart-topping album, even a gold ringtone. But instead of forsaking the Triangle for Nashville, he's still living in Wake Forest.

"Honestly, I love North Carolina and still living here," he said in a recent interview. "You know, there's just something about driving down Capital Boulevard and knowing that I could turn on any road and still find my way home."

Carroll is also keeping his connections here alive in ways that count. This weekend, he's playing a benefit for Brittany's Battle, the cancer-support group started in honor of Carroll's late friend Brittany Coppedge (who died of cancer in December 2006). For details on that and his new album, see the interview in Friday's paper.