Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul (2001)

A 180-degree departure from contemporary commercial country music, album number six from the always dynamic Loveless is like a breath of fresh air on a steamy summer afternoon. Mountain Soul is a rare and brilliant acoustic 14-track album of bluegrass mountain music. Amidst the mandolins, fiddles, and banjos is Loveless' harking alto voice, singing from her soul to the music she grew up with. Just when you thought the days of Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, and the Stanley Brothers were gone, Loveless brings them back with new life and staggering grace. Rounding out this ubiquitous collection are soft-singing collaborators Travis Tritt, Ricky Skaggs, and Rebecca Lynn Howard.