Shadow Of You (Redd Fogg, 2005)

Heather Waters is blessed with a strong voice and also surrounded herself with a bevy of fine musicians and songwriters to create this traditional country album. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, for example, wrote "Apalachicola," and play on it as well. Not coincidentally, it's also the best song. It tells the story of someone who has committed an unnamed crime in this particular town, who is then forced into hard labor as the sentence for the deed. It's a beautifully written lyric since the words do not give the listener too much detail and leave much to the imagination.

"Apalachicola," a story song, stands out on this disc of mostly brokenhearted love songs. For instance, "Alone in Tennessee" finds Waters crying about a musician that has let her down. Elsewhere, "Hush" includes the great kiss-off line: "You got your 15 minutes...ain't you 'bout out of time?" These words put a nice spin on the old, oft used Andy Warhol quote. Much fine musicianship also helps these songs come to life, such as Tony Gilkyson's guitar work and Don Heffington's spot-on percussion.

In many ways, Waters work sounds a lot like those early Lone Justice records - especially on the quieter material. This Heather Waters release is one refreshing listening experience. (Heather Waters)