Great female voices

There is one other very special woman I believe everyone should hear---Iris Dement. I learned of her from Merle Haggard, who was raving about her at the time of her 1st or 2nd album, about twenty years ago. Her music is that great blend of singer/songwriter, hard country, bluegrass, and a little folk (not too much!). She not only has a great voice, she is also an astounding songwriter. Merle recorded her "No Time To Cry", but hers is the one to have, on her "My Life" album. Mostly acoustic, she has all the first call Nashville musicians on her records, guys like Jerry Douglas (Alison Krauss band) on dobro. For the atheists out there, let me warn you that she comes from a spiritual place (sounds Southern Baptist to me)---but then so do Buddy and Julie Miller (Julie has a couple of OOP Christian albums out there). As a bonus, her records, like many bluegrass albums, have pretty darn good sound.

Iris makes nice records, though her voice might be more raucous than lovely (Atheists can come from a spiritual place, too, btw). For a really strong flavor in the Iris vein, check our Lizzie LaPrelle.

For the great Eva Cassidy, try "Simply Eva." The version "Wayfaring Stranger" found there is a reference track in my listening group.

+1 on Sarah Jarosz; her version of "Come on Up to the House" is another reference track, as it goes pretty low for the genre.

An obvious choice, but I'd not want to overlook Margo Timmons of Cowboy Junkies. Lovely voice, solid recordings. "Acoustic Junk" is a limited release to look for.

John

For lovely in a conventional way try Over the Rhine. For something a little different Mary Gauthier, especially The Foundling. For a Euro flavour try some Sophie Zelmani. The Wailin' Jennies and Be Good Tanya's also. There are so many.

+1 for Over The Rhine

Roc1444, Mary Gauthier is a recent discovery of mine, and I LOVE her! As with most great artists, her work is very personal. I gave her a listen (the Mercy Now album---fantastic!) because I saw that Buddy Miller had produced one of her albums, the one I'm next going to get.