Fearless (CD - 2000)

Personnel includes: Terri Clark (vocals); Steuart Smith (acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, accordion, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ); B. James Lowry, Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Dan Dugmore (electric guitar, pedal steel); Pam Gadd (banjo); Gary Prim (Hammond B-3 organ); Michael Rhodes, Glen Worff (bass); Shawn Pelton (drums, percussion, loops); Greg Morrow (drums, percussion); John Wesley Ryles, Beth Nielson Chapman (background vocals).

Producers: Steuart Smith, Terri Clark, Keith Stegall.

Principally recorded at Dark Horse Studios and Soundstage Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Personnel: Duncan Mullins (drum programming).

Audio Mixers: Steve Harbison; John Kelton; Roger Moutenot.

Recording information: Dark Horse Studios, Nashville, TN; Soundstage Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Pam Springstein.

The list of co-writers Terri Clark chose to work with on this album speaks volumes about her approach to country music. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Carlene Carter are all known for subverting the tropes of mainstream country while coming from a classic singer-songwriter frame of reference. That's pretty much the road that Clark follows on FEARLESS. There are pop moves aplenty in these songs, but they're not the broad, subtle-as-a-sledgehammer kind that clutter up the top of the country charts. Clark's style is classier than that, as she mixes pedal steel and acoustic guitar with low-key electronic rhythms, twangy guitar and harmonica with Beatles-derived background vocals and pure pop melodies. FEARLESS is one of those rare items that may appeal to both the commercial country crowd and those with a slightly more progressive inclination. minimize