Stronger (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Joe Breen (vocals); Shane McFee (guitar); Guy Allison (keyboards); Sharon Celani, John McFee (background vocals).

Much like her step-sister Roseanne Cash's 2006 album, BLACK CADILLAC, STRONGER finds Carlene Carter coping with the deaths of her mother, June Carter, and her step-father, Johnny Cash, as well as with her own troubled life. Early in her country-rock career, Carter was known as something of a hellion, with the unfortunate effect that, for some time, her personal problems overshadowed her musical career. But, as the explicit album title suggests and the powerful, clear-eyed lyrics make plain, Carter has stared down her demons. Working for the first time with her younger brother, John Carter Cash, whose co-writing, production, and instrumental work is crucial to the album, Carter has shaped her most consistent, self-assured set of songs. Particular highlights include the defiant "The Bitter End" and the equally emotionally naked "Break My Little Heart In Two." minimize