John & Audrey Wiggins "John & Audrey Wiggins" (Polygram, 1994)

John & Audrey Wiggins "The Dream" (Polygram, 1997)

Wild & Blue "Heirloom" (Pinecastle, 1993)
Heartfelt, unassuming bluegrass music, featuring the sisterly vocals of Jan and Jill Snider, and some fine, sweet picking...

Wild & Blue "Come On In And Make Yourself At Home" (Pinecastle, 1994)

Wild Rose Band "Breakin' New Ground" (Universal, 1988)

Wild Rose Band "Straight And Narrow" (Capitol, 1991)

Wild Rose Band "Listen To Your Heart" (Capitol, 1991)

Holly Williams "The Ones We Never Knew" (Universal South, 2004)
(Produced by Monroe James & Holly Williams)

Holly Williams "Here With Me" (Mercury Nashville, 2009)
(Produced by Justin Niebank & Holly Williams)
A powerful set of confessional songs from the granddaughter of the great Hank Williams... Like her father (Hank, Jr.) Ms. Williams is perhaps not the most elegant or moving singer, but through sheer force of will, she embues her songs with raw emotional power. Interestingly enough, the artists this most reminds me of are also second- and third-generation country singers, particularly Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter, whose self-awareness of themselves as members of hard-country royalty must color their art in some similar way. This album is full of searing emotional portraits, songs of love yearned for and lost, as well as intensely adult, real-life topics such as the loss of a child (in "Without Jesus Here With Me") in which she describes the coming-together of her entire family to help cope with the tragedy, and the comfort she found from religion as well. This dovetails into a nice, soulful cover of Neil Young's "Birds," which takes the anguished feel of the first song, and brings it to a quiet close. This isn't an album full of hummable pop hooks, but it packs a wallop, nonetheless. If you like the adult-contemporary leanings of Mary-Chapin Carpenter, et al., or sometimes wonder what Gretchen Wilson might sound like when she mellowed and matured, then you might wanna check this record out.

Jeanette Williams "Dreams Come True" (Flying Cloud, 1994)

Jeanette Williams & Johnny Williams "Johnny & Jeanette Williams" (Major Bluegrass, 1996)

Jeanette Williams & Clearwater "Blue Ridge Mountain Sun" (Mid-Knight, 1997)

Jeanette Williams "Cherry Blossoms In The Springtime" (Doobie Shea, 1999)
Very lovely stuff, with some of the sweetest, most upbeat melodies bluegrass has to offer. Dan Tyminski co-produced this album, which includes contributions by many of the late '90s "usual suspects" (such as Tyminski, Rob Ickes, Ben Isaacs and Aubrie Haynie). On a few numbers this bluegrass Wrecking Crew begins, not too surprisingly, to drift into sugary Alison Krauss-ish territory, but Williams seems to have a pretty clear sense of how she wants her music to sound, and the bouncy melodic drive is seldom lost for long. Really nice record... highly recommended!

Jeanette Williams Band "Too Blue" (Bell Buckle, 2002)
Back in the old days, they used to write songs about a dearly beloved mother died and gone to heaven... Here, singer Jeanette Williams updates the old formula with a sombre, powerful song about a parent diminished by Alzheimer's disease, unable to remember her own children as they visit her in the hospital. "I Ought To Know You" opens this disc, but is only one of several striking tunes on here, all delivered in a straightforward, traditionalist bluegrass style. Joining the Williams ensemble is guest fiddler Becky Buller, moonlighting from Valerie Smith's Liberty Pike band. Good stuff -- heartfelt and definitely worth checking out!

Jeanette Williams Band "Get In The Boat" (Bell Buckle, 2003)
A nice, heartfelt bluegrass gospel album. May be too Jesus-y for more secular-minded 'grass fans, but there are several nice slow numbers that stand out, particularly "When The Harvest Has Come" and "Come Morning," which both have an old-fashioned brush arbor feel to them.

Jeanette Williams "Thank You For Caring" (Blue Circle, 2008)
(Produced by Jeanette Williams, Wesley Easer & Johnny Williams)
Her continuing presence as one of the true independents on the bluegrass scene makes Williams a special performer... She's a strong bluegrass performer, and when the band is cooking behind her, Williams has a nice, lively presence. On this latest outing, however, she edges out into more of a contemporary folk territory than before, with less of a mountain music feel, an a bit more of the poetic-contemplative mood. Likewise, the gospel tunes are less oriented towards high lonesome harmonies or backwoods testifying, and sound more like folk-tinged Southern Gospel. I suppose in that sense there's a little something for everyone here -- I like the faster, twangier truegrass tunes, but I also wish there were more of them on here.

Leona Williams "San Quentin's First Lady" (MCA, 1976)
Missouri-born singer and songwriter Leona Williams got her first break as a member of Loretta Lynn's band, and had modest success as a solo performer before working with Merle Haggard, singing harmony on several albums, as well as a number of fine duets on several of his albums. They were married from 1978-84; after their split, Williams recorded a few albums, faded from view, and has since reemerged as an indiebilly icon. This album, recently reissued on CD, featured Williams doing a Johnny Cash/Mere Haggard-style prison concert (the first one headlined by a woman) with lively backing from the Merle Haggard band...

Leona Williams & Merle Haggard "Heart To Heart" (Mercury, 1983) (LP)
The material on this album can also be found on the Bear Family collection, Old Lovers Never Die, listed below...

Leona Williams & Merle Haggard "Old Lovers Never Die" (Bear Family, 2001)
This collection gathers tracks from the 1983 Merle-Leona duets album Heart To Heart along with a generous helping of her hard-to-find solo albums. Mostly, it's a showcase for Williams' work, and a nice chance to hear her singing in her prime.

Leona Williams "Melted Down Memories" (1999) (?)

Leona Williams "Honorary Texan" (Heart Of Texas, 2004)

Leona Williams "I Love You Because" (Heart Of Texas, 2005)

Leona Williams "Leona Williams Sings Merle Haggard" (Ah-Ha, 2008)

Leona Williams "New Patches" (Heart Of Texas, 2008)

Linda Williams - see artist discography

Lois Williams "A Girl Named Sam" (Starday, 1969)
(Produced by Louis Innis)

Lucinda Williams - see artist discography

Victoria Williams - see artist discography

Kelly Willis - see artist discography

Gretchen Wilson - see artist discography

Kate Wolf "Back Roads" (Kaleidoscope/Collector's Choice, 1976)
Kate Wolf "Lines On The Paper" (Kaleidoscope/Collector's Choice, 1977)
Kate Wolf "Safe At Anchor" (Kaleidoscope/Collector's Choice, 1979)
Kate Wolf "Give Yourself To Love" (Kaleidoscope/Collector's Choice, 1983)
Kate Wolf "The Wind Blows Wild" (Kaleidoscope/Collector's Choice, 1987)
A pioneer of the modern folk scene, Northern California's Kate Wolf recorded nearly a dozen albums before succumbing to leukemia in the 1980s. This series reissues several of her best records, originally released on the independent Kaleidoscope label; a series of soft-edged contemplative singer-songwriter meditations. Many performers who came in her wake, notably Nanci Griffith, cite Wolf as one of their inspirations in forging a new style of updated, personal acoustic-based songwriting. Definitely worth checking out if you like the softer, more mature side of the style. (Available through the Collector's Choice website.)

Lee Ann Womack - see artist discography

Carolyn Wonderland "Miss Understood" (Bismeaux, 2007)
(Produced by Ray Benson)
A really nice surprise here, with a powerful blast of raw, soulful blues from this throaty, rough-hewn Texas powerhouse. A Houstonite who used to front the Imperial Monkeys roots-blues band, Wonderland has made Austin her home for a while now, and is one of the finest blues singers in the area. The slashing steel guitar on this album's opening track should be enough to get your attention, and once you get to the mournful "Bad Girl Blues," a couple of songs later, this gal will have you in the palm of her hands. Sidestepping the smae-old raspy-Janis and sassy-mama Koko Taylor stereotypes, Wonderland taps into the more soulful tradition of gals such as Tracy Nelson, Marcia Ball and Lou Ann Barton. Asleep At The Wheel's Ray Benson produced this disc, and although he sneaks a teensy bit of twang in on a tune or two, he mostly plays to Wonderland's strengths and keeps it bluesy and brash. Her instincts aren't always right (a jarring rap interlude on "I Found The Lions" is just horrible, but it doesn't last long...) but raw power like this doesn't come around often and this is definitely an artist to keep our eyes on!

Marion Worth "Greatest Hits" (Columbia, 1963) (LP)

Marion Worth & George Morgan "Slippin' Around" (Columbia, 1964) (LP)

Marion Worth "Sings Marty Robbins" (Columbia, 1965) (LP)

Marion Worth "A Woman Needs Love" (Decca, 1968) (LP)

Chely Wright "The Woman In The Moon" (Polygram, 1994)

Chely Wright "Let Me In" (Polygram, 1996)

Chely Wright "Let Me In" (MCA, 1997)
(Produced by Tony Brown)
Her third album, and her first for MCA... A nice mix of bouncy, upbeat numbers and slower but still quite pleasant ballads... She has a torchy feel that's kind of like Rosanne Cash, and a sentimental side that brings Don Williams to mind (particularly on songs like "Emma Jean's Guitar"). She's got a real twanginess about her, and a feel for heartsongs that's refreshing to hear. Nice version of "Feeling Single, Seeing Double," too!

Chely Wright "Single White Female" (MCA, 1999)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon & Norro Wilson)
It's still mostly working for me on here; at least the title track is kinda fun, although with the tilt towards slower ballads, she is starting to sound a little Reba-ish... A pop-oriented flatness is starting to creep into her work, but I still find Wright herself to be a pretty appealing performer. Wish she'd stick more to the upbeat material.

Chely Wright "Never Love You Enough" (MCA-Nashville, 2001)
(Produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon, Dan Huff & Paul Worley)
Absurdly over-the-top Nashville pop, with painfully over-obvious lyrics. Huge, oceanic sound beds drape her vocals, mercilessly herding the listeners into little sonic rodeo chutes and forcing them to coexist with shrill, tinny melodic pop riffs. I mean... her sound almost works, but it's really a bit much. Hate those too-clever drum machines riffs that are "slyly" added to the mix, just letting you know that this ain't your grandma's country music... Wright has an okay voice, but this music is far too intrusive and bossy -- it doesnÕt give you a chance to think, it just keeps trying to subdue you and get your ears to surrender. Markedly prefab and unsubtle. Yuck.

Chely Wright "Metropolitan Hotel" (Dualtone, 2005)
(Produced by Jeff Huskins, Stephony Smith & Chely Wright)
With somewhat of a hit-or-miss relationship with the Nashville charts, Chely Wright has the luxury of going in just about any musical direction she wants to... She kicks this disc off with Katrina Elam's "It's The Song," a relatively rootsy ode to the road in which she pledges allegiance to the spirit of Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, with pedal steel and banjo galore. But right after that, Wright forsakes her twangitude in favor of more conventional, piano-heavy pop-country ballads. The album's first single, the self-penned "Bumper Of My SUV," is an Iraq War-related patriotic number which is remarkable in several ways... First off, there's the super-minimal arrangements, with Wright halfway reciting the lyrics over a simple, sparse backdrop of piano and mandolin... Other than the timeliness, it's almost amazing that it was released as a single! The lyrical content is also striking, but in a more subtle way: even though she's sticking up for the Marine Corps, Wright also leaves some room in there for us to still question authority ("And yes, I do have questions/I get to ask them because I'm free..." she sings, leaving a little more political wiggle room than on your average chest-thumping, flag-waver anthem.) In general, I like the songwriting on this album, but the production doesn't always seem like a perfect match. "I Got Him Ready For You," for example, is an outstanding subject for a chick-centric power ballad -- a woman laments all the work she put in to transform her ex-lover into an emotionally mature adult -- but structurally the song itself seems to drag on a bit; a more concise, pointed rendition of this song would have made it absolutely devastating. Probably the best song on here is "What If I Can't Say No Again," in which late-night phone calls and a knock on the door make a woman question her ability to rebuff her ex, who has since hooked up with someone else... If I was still programming a commercial country station, that'd be the song I'd pick as a dark horse favorite. Once again, Wright doesn't totally live up to her potential, but she says what she wants to and has a distinctive presence. It's worth checking out if your a commercial country listener.

Chely Wright "Lifted Off The Ground" (Vanguard, 2010)
(Produced by Rodney Crowell)
Five years ago, Chely Wright left the confines of the Top 40 country scene for a more stripped-down sound on an indie label; she goes further on that journey here, a moody, soulful, deeply personal album in which Wright comes out of the closet and, doubtless, burns her last bridge with the socially conservative Nashville establishment. But while she closes one door, she opens others, courting a folkier, more diverse audience and delivering a powerful album that should attract and satisfy these new fans. Certainly, with the anguish and honesty of this emotionally raw batch of songs, she's a million miles away from the calculated, prefab "earthiness" of today's commercial country scene, entering into the confessional folk-pop terrain pioneered by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash and others. The first sign that this album takes a new direction if the half-giddy, half-morbid suicide novelty song, "Notes To The Coroner," catchy and clever, but a bit disturbing as well. It's soon followed by the album's masterpiece, the mournful, acoustic "Like Me," which is a brilliantly written, utterly aching ballad addressed to a woman that Wright has fallen in love with, but can never attain, because while she wants to come out of the closet, her lover cannot. The rest of the album is mostly an echo of that searing, painful blast -- more regret, anger, recriminations, sorrow. She swears on a couple of tunes (which will probably help this album gain some notoriety) but the words sound natural, an affirmation of her intensity, not a mere gimmick. This album is clearly a work of self-therapy, but not entirely one of self-indulgence... Indeed, it's rare to hear a record that is so palpably relevant and real, so emotionally direct and meaningful. Wright isn't dabbling in style or obscuring her thoughts in wordplay or irony -- all the current conventions of pop and twang are thrown out the window as we hear an artist simply expressing herself, and exploring her own thoughts as she makes one of the biggest decisions of her life. It's a compelling record, and many of us will wish her all the best in days and years to come.

Ginny Wright & Tom Tall "Are You Mine" (Bear Family, 2005)
Kooky, clunky, delightfully innocent, for-real hillbilly music from the early 1950s. Two teenagers, Tom Tall and Ginny Wright, were paired up for a duet on the independent Fabor label, where they were both signed... The disc, "Are You Mine," shot to Number Two on the country charts in 1955, but just when they were poised to reap the benefits of their success, Wright decided to pack in in and quit show biz - she got married, had kids and settled down. Tall, who was just a few years younger than her, was left in the lurch -- fresh out of high school and eager for success, his career lurched along for several years afterwards, but he never came as close to hitting the jackpot as he did when he was a kid. This disc includes almost all the singles that Tall and Wright recorded in the 1950s (although, sadly, it omits her earlier duet with Jim Reeves, which was also a big hit...) His solo work and hers are included, side by side, and it's wonderously unpolished music, mainly sub-par novelty material and heartsongs, sung with boundless enthusiasm and an utter lack of finesse. This disc speaks to a day when country singers weren't all blowdried TV models who "fixed" every little bit of their vocals in the studio before their records came out... This disc is full of awkward, chaotic, sometimes embarassing performances... and it's an album I find fairly irresistible. It's the kind of record you just won't find anywhere else... God bless Bear Family!

Michelle Wright "Do Right By Me" (Savannah, 1988)

Michelle Wright "Michelle Wright" (Arista, 1990)
A so-so album from a Canadian artist who seems pulled in several directions -- soft country-pop (with a slight traditionalist/rockabilly undercurrent on a few tunes), along with bluesy-torchy vocals, ala k.d. lang... She seems like an artist who could've caught fire, given the right musical backing, but as is, this album feels a bit flat.

Michelle Wright "Now And Then" (Arista, 1992)

Michelle Wright "The Reasons Why" (Arista)

Michelle Wright "For Me It's You" (Arista, 1996)

Michelle Wright "Shut Up And Kiss Me" (2004)

Michelle Wright "A Wright Christmas" (Icon, 2007)

Michelle Wright "Everything And More" (2008)

Michelle Wright "Greatest Hits" (Arista, 2000)

The Wrights "Down This Road" (RCA/Sony-BMG, 2005)
(Produced by Keith Stegall & John Kelton)
A memorable debut album of sweet, well-crafted country duets by this husband-wife songwriting team, Adam and Shannon Wright. The Wrights were introduced to country fans earlier in the year when they sang on Alan Jackson's What I Do album, where they contributed musical backup as well as two new songs... Adam Wright does just happen to be Jackson's nephew, and Uncle Alan does just happen to make an appearance on this album as well, but one listen to this disc and you'll know that they got here based on their talent, not anything else. This is a really striking record for a modern commercial country release -- it's got a softness and sincerity that's really quite refreshing. The Wright's never sound like they're straining to find a hit, or trying out whatever styles or gimmicks they can think of to see what might stick. They have a nice, simple sound and they stay with it, giving them a distinctive presence amid all the pop-soul crossovers of recent years. Also, the production is smooth and assured, and pleasantly restrained, given how over-the-top the Nashville studio cats have gotten. This is a classy record, a well-measured piece of craftsmanship that never blunders into by-the-numbers commercial formulae... If you enjoy Barry and Holly Tashian's records or the mellower stuff by Buddy and Julie Miller, then you may find kindred spirits here... Check it out!

The Wrights "The Wrights" (Alan's Country Records, 2007)
(Produced by Keith Stegall & John Kelton)
Bee-yoo-ti-ful. The husband-wife team of Adam and Shannon Wright burst on the Nashville scene a couple of years ago with their major label debut, Down This Road, a wonderful set of melody-twang-and-harmony drenched commercial country that seemed just too good to be true. Maybe it was, since this new EP is and indie release (like a lot of the best country coming from Nashville these days...) Regardless of whatever's happening between them and the majors, the Wrights sure do sound good. This disc opens on a high note, with "Rewind," a soaring harmony tune written by Shawn Camp, produced in a lavish style that recalls Billy Sherrill's best years... Indeed, the Wrights are resurrecting a much-neglected tradition of country duet singing that had its heyday back when Sherrill was working with George Jones and Tammy Wynette -- it's a sound that's fallen by the wayside in recent years, and you'll wonder why when you hear these two croon one great tune after another, including originals like the twangy "Do You Still" and catchy hits-in-the-making like "Planting Flowers" and "You're The Kind Of Trouble." Guitarist Paul Kennerley plays throughout and also wrote or co-wrote several of the songs; veteran producer Keith Stegall exhibits his tried-and-true, irresistible blend of twang'n'pop, which fits these kids like a glove. If you like real, true, sweet country pop, the kind of stuff you can crank up loud and sing along to, then check this album out. It's a treat. (For more info, check out www.thewrightsmusic.com )

Tammy Wynette - see artist discography

Wynonna - see The Judds

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Hick Music Index
Sisters Who Swung: Women In Jazz & Blues

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