Chris Knight "Heart of Stone" (2008)

These songs are really good.  Really good.  But the production is too big.  I think that they're going for a sound that would work well on Hot Country radio, which unfortunately means it sounds like a mid 80s roots rock record.  Of course the depressing themes to the songs wouldn't exactly fit in with songs about trucks and partying anyway.  Knight's protagonists party, but only because that's how they manage their pain.

Malcolm Holcombe "Not Forgotten" (2007)

For some reason, I just can NOT spell this guy's name properly.  Arrgggg!

Oh well.  Holcombe seems to consistently record records of left of center country songs.  I can't determine if his breaking of structural rules is intentional or not.  And does it matter?  Regardless, I find that his insistence on moving away from the norms distances me from his songs.

The Hackensaw Boys "Look Out" (2007)

Imagine that Old Crow never wrote "Wagon Wheel".  There's no massive singalong hit.  Just a modern band playing music that is heavily influenced and indebted to string band music.  That's what you've got with The Hackensaw Boys.

Gretchen Peters & Tom Russell "One to the Heart, One to the Head" (2009)

It's interesting that two performers who are known as songwriters collaborate, & then choose to record an album primarily of covers.  Amongst others, there are songs by Bob Dylan, Ian Tyson, Rosalee Sorrells, & Diana Jones.

There's a languid pace to this material.  Touches of accordion add a southwestern flair, & accentuate the desert vibe. 

It's a bit odd when I think of this album.  I like some material so well, that I think perhaps more highly of it on the whole than I should.  On balance, I find quite a bit of the material a bit too smooth (perhaps its the curse of the piano based arrangements).  But the material that works for me.... oh, how it works.

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit "Here We Rest" (2011)

Wow.  I really overlooked this album.  Stylistically, it draws from the parts of Southern Rock usually ignored by the Drive-By Truckers -- pop country, soul, Little Feat style boogie rock.  This is a very fun, personal album. 

John Doe "Country Club" (2009)

John Doe's always shown a love for the Bakersfield sound.  Finally he teams up with the Sadies (are they the new Calexico -- the cool indie house band?) for a full on love letter to the sound.  The bad news is that this release is primarily covers.  The good news is that it is great.

Laura Cantrell "Kitty Wells Dresses" (2011)

As the hierarchy of country music stars is reconfigured through modern hipster lenses, Kitty Wells seems to have been forgotten.  She came along too late for the prewar fetishists, & too early for the purely kitsch loving nostagists.   Laura Cantrell, a dj & country music historian, seeks to rectify the situation. 

With the exception of the title track, this is a collection of covers of Kitty Wells songs.  Less a modern "tribute" album, it harkens back to the country tradition of a younger singer recording songs made famous by an earlier performer  (ever look through old country LPs & notice all the ones called " [insert performers name] Sings Hank Williams"?).

Scott Miller "For Crying Out Loud" (2009)

It's hard for me to think of Scott Miller without thinking of Steve Earle.  First, there's the connection with the V-Roys (they were signed to Earle's label).  Then there's the songs themselves.  Miller's country/rock hybrid seems to be mining much of that same vein that Earle worked in the 80s & early 90s.  Unfortunately Miller gets the worst of the comparison.

That's not to say that Miller's work is bad. Far from it.  But there's nothing here that makes you stand up & take notice the way a song like "Copperhead Road" did.

Steve Earle "Townes" (2009)

Steve Earle has probably done more to promote Townes Van Zandt's album sales than any of his record labels.  It's only natural that sooner or later Earle would get around to recording a full length tribute to his good friend.

For a songwriter less prolific than Earle, the suspicion would be that he had hit some sort of fallow patch, & was using the tribute as a stopgap to cover his lack of productivity.  For Earle, it just feels like "oh yeah, I've finally got time to put this together"....

Earle does a great job, the songs fit inside the context of his own catalog, yet still seem true to Townes' originals.