This is the album I most want to buy, at present.
“Pikeville, Kentucky, native Patty Loveless has occasionally acknowledged her mountain-music roots on her frequently excellent albums of mainstream country. Like too few of her 21st-century post-hillbilly peers could do, the singer makes Mountain Soul–an all-acoustic sampling of classics and a handful of new songs–far more than a nod to the style. Loveless’s clear voice and sensitivity to narrative lyrics have made ballads her most fertile ground, and here she turns in as consistently affecting a disc as she’s ever made. Even while celebrating a sound rooted in another time, though, Loveless takes an artistic chance or two: Darrell Scott’s long, downbeat story song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” isn’t the record’s best cut, but it’s one of its most intriguing.” –Rickey Wright for Amazon.com