the start the record is an oddity. A big band pumps, female background singers rip through a chorus of "Bye Bye Love," and Ray brings high energy to the Everly Bros. teeny-bop lyrics. Some songs suffer from syrupy choir and string arrangements, but Ray is always there to set things straight. He gives country some funk, and erases, for a day, all questions of black and white. --Steve Tignor  (less)

North Carolina fundamentalist preacher, hits those Piedmont consonants hard, and looks like a cross between a contemporary Christian singer and a devotee of Trace Adkins, whose speaker-rattling baritone is an obvious inspiration. With producer Don Gehman (John Mellencamp) mixing Carroll's sensitive originals with hearty commercial songs from proven Nashville hitmeisters (Craig Wiseman, Casey Beathard, Jeffrey Steele), it's hard to get a good fix on Carroll's persona, and he lives and dies by the material. One schizophrenic moment: "No Good in Goodbye," his duet with Nashville convert Jewel, who co-wrote the song with Carroll and Shaye Smith. The fading pop icon has no idea how to phrase a song like this, a...  (less)

deep South. "The resulting documentary," says Variety, "reps a very European look at quintessentially American milieu, a marriage exemplified by its cool, painterly visuals and southern gothic cast of characters." Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus is a thought-provoking road trip through the American south - a world of churches; prison; coalmines; truck stops; juke joints; swamps; and mountains. Along the way the viewer encounters various musicians, including the Handsome Family, Johnny Dowd, 16 Horsepower and David Johansen; old time banjo player Lee Sexton, rockabilly and mountain Gospel churches and novelist Harry Crews telling grisly stories down a dirt track. The film is a collage of stories and testimonies, almos...  (less)

twist to the vintage genre. Vinicio Capossela and Gianmaria Testa prove that Italy’s appreciation for the fine arts extends to song weaving as well as winemaking. Spain’s Amparanoia sings about a love paradox that could apply to drinking wine as well. Portugal’s Jorge Fernando provides the perfect soundtrack for a glass of his country’s famous port wine. Though now living in exile in France, Chile’s Mariana Montalvo and her music have remained steadfastly rooted to the land where Bordeaux grapes thrived in the 19th Century. Argentina’s Melingo offers as much variety in his music as his country does in its vineyards. On the opposite side of the world, the sunny locales of South Africa and Australia offe...  (less)

remind listeners how a fusion of styles and influences from both black and white musicians defined American country music in its formative decades. Included here are gems, both familiar and obscure, by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, Jimmie Davis, Cliff Carlisle, and other country musicians who were clearly inspired by their blues cousins. Backed by the Nashville All-Stars, a supersonic string band comprising bluegrass masters Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Béla Fleck (banjo), and Byron House (stand-up bass), all playing on vintage 1920s and '30s acoustic instruments, Kaukonen revives and vividly reinterprets these blues-drenched country classics for a new generation of listeners. --Bob Allen  (less)

spent more weeks at #1 than any other Country album this year: 24 weeks! Taylor is the only Country female artist to have five Top 10 singles from a debut album and the only Country female vocalist this decade to reach the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. Needless to say, she's a sensation that has only just begun to show what she is capable of. 13 tracks including the single 'Love Story' and 'Change', first heard during the 2008 Summer Olympics. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.  (less)

the fully formed soul of a life well-lived. Ray LaMontagne belongs with the latter. On this, his debut, LaMontagne has crafted a handful of quietly devastating meditations on life and love--and delivered them with a raspy vocal all his own. The simple, mournful lyrics of "Burn," "Shelter" and the title track recall a Hank Williams ballad, and the reserved production by alt-country/americana genius Ethan Johns (the Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon) make this a great disc for smoky Saturday nights, and rainy Sunday mornings. --Ben Heege  (less)

Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 timeless hymns from his youth. Recorded with just two acoustic guitars and a piano, it was originally a private Christmas present to his mother. The spare instrumentation is surprisingly robust behind his flawless readings of "I'll Fly Away," "Softly and Tenderly," "How Great Thou Art," "Are You Washed in the Blood?," and "The Old Rugged Cross," all as beguilingly unpretentious as any of his country hits. Instead of an all-star duet, wife Denise and daughters Mattie and Ali join in on "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." In the end, what began as a private bequest becomes a moving, eloquent gift to Jackson's entire audience. --Rich Kienzle  (less)

of 50 chart-toppers, spanning 22 years, showcases the Cadillac of country singers at his best, blending traditional and contemporary stylings, but never straying too far from the core of his Texas barroom sound. "Fool Hearted Memory," from 1982, proves that Strait had his uncluttered production and straightforward vocal approach down from the start, no matter how many producers guided him to his peak. Through the years, the path to superstardom dictated that he trade the crisp Western swing of "Right or Wrong" and "Ace in the Hole" for squishy, mid-tempo crowd pleasers like "Check Yes or No" and "Write This Down." But he redeemed himself with such poignant heartbreakers as "So Much Like My Dad" and "…Smile." This retrospective's one new track, "I Hate Everything," ...  (less)

Time Magazine, Peyroux was immediately recognized as a remarkably talented singer with a promising future. With the release of her long awaited follow-up album Careless Love, Peyroux's potential as an artist is truly realized. Her smoky voice and knowing delivery make each song her own, whether she's singing vintage tunes by W.C. Handy and Hank Williams, or contemporary songs by Leonard Cohen and Elliott Smith. Producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin) weaves strands of acoustic blues, country ballads, classic jazz, torch songs and pop into a vibrant fabric that is both timeless and thoroughly up to date, with Peyroux's arresting vocals always front and center.  (less)

set that indeed showcases as all she has intended to be - a singularly expressive vocalist, a brilliant interpreter of other people's songs, a graceful and confident songwriter. Some of the most affecting material is the least well-known such as John Wesley Routh's Celtic/Country "Shores Of White Sands" and trucker-poet Michael Germino's heartrending story-song, "Broken Man's Lament." Harris has chosen these songs with conceptual care.  (less)

time on this 17-cut compilation disc, which, despite its title, actually includes four new songs, one rerecording, and a remix. Amid soppy country-pop chart fodder ("Me and You," "When I Close My Eyes") and second-rate ditties ("How Forever Feels," "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy"), Chesney hits his stride on robust country ballads like "You Had Me from Hello" and the lead single "I Lost It." On other gems--like "That's Why I'm Here," a heartfelt tribute to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program that topped the charts a while back; "Baptism," a great duet with Randy Travis; and his fine rerecording of "Tin Man," the song that launched his career in the mid '90s--Chesney even manages to attain an ephemeral but utterly moving tran...  (less)