Through more than 100 appearances on , built strong ties to the audience most likely to respond to her debut album. Her voice throughout begs comparison to classic divas such as and especially , to whom pays good-humored tribute on Her nasal intonation and Southern lilt bear the ring of authenticity and her writing bypasses contemporary distractions in order to connect directly to a more conservative aesthetic. The results, always agreeable, can be startling when throws a lyrical curve: The word "virginity" clangs like a dinner bell on the last line of a finger-wag warning set to a saunter. The classic old-time harmonies and medium-tempo sway of the cameo monologue by on the barroom lament the steel guitars that slither through several tracks, the unabashed if predictable hand-clapper the infectious barn-dance hook of and above all her thrilling rendition of 's all affirm the power of unadulterated old-time and 's complete command of this idiom. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk