Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (1998)

To speak of Lucinda Williams is to speak of one of the leading figures in modern country rock, a singer who has maintained a career far removed from trends and commercialism, producing some of the greatest works focused on American roots music. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she began her career in the mid-70s performing in venues in Austin and Texas before deciding to release her first album at the end of that decade. Although her early recordings didn't garner much media attention, it was in the late 1980s in Los Angeles that her fortunes began to change with albums like 1992's "Sweet Old World". However, her breakthrough came six years later with "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road", an exquisite work where her folk and country roots merged with other styles such as blues. Surrounded by great musicians of great caliber such as Steve Earle or Emmylou Harris, the singer leaves us with a complete inventory of roots songs such as the rural "Right In Time", the melodic "Lake Charles" or "Greenville", the cheerful "Can't Let Go", the commercial "Metal Firecracker" or the exciting "Drunken Angel".