Judy Klass - The Brooklyn Cowgirl Rides Again (2015)

There's a touch of politics in songs like "Adam Knew Eve" and "Left-Handed People" . . . The Nashville ideal of recent decades, dictating that songs have to be perky, positive and affirmational, is undermined by unhealthy relationship songs and heartache songs like "Just So You Know," "The Truth Lies Somewhere In Between," "I Can Always Count On You (To Let Me Down)," "The Good Times," "In My Blood" -- and then "My Pain Ain't News" sums it all up. There are some good old-fashioned jukebox songs ("He Done Me Right," "Drink It Over") and songs about the industry and my nebulous place in it ("Been Through the Wars of Nashville," "The Brooklyn Cowgirl Rides Again") and . . . some love songs, and rock songs . . . as I take country music on a slightly different ride.