Search - Loretta Lynn, Hasil Adkins, Lee Hazlewood :: The Gift

This is a carefully conceived and skillfully executed collection of country music in all its many forms--from classic to countrypolitan and alt to outlaw. The disc is an aptly atmospheric companion to the film (for which roots-music fan Billy Bob Thornton shared screenwriting credit), but it's much more than that. At first glance, the 15 tracks (including two brief snippets from Christopher Young's instrumental score) may seem utterly disparate. But together they make an extraordinarily cohesive collection--and are much closer kin than one might think. Two cuts from the young singer Neko Case--the title track of her outstanding sophomore album Furnace Room Lullaby and the previously unreleased tune "Pretty Girls"--rub elbows with a pair of 1960s classics by her role model, Loretta Lynn. Willie Nelson, who chips in with the exclusive original "Great Divide," shares space with his daughter Amy (singing her self-penned "In Case We Die") as well as old pals Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. Also appearing are the neo-traditionalist Seattle quintet the Souvenirs, who sound at home among such diverse and distinguished company as fabled wild man Hasil Adkins; the unclassifiable, oft-overlooked Lee Hazlewood; and the legendary George Jones. --Anders Smith-Lindall