Jasper County [Bonus Track] (CD - 2005)

Personnel: Trisha Yearwood (background vocals); Kurt Riles, Richard Bennett (acoustic guitar); Jon Jorgenson, Jeff Jorgenson, Al Anderson (electric guitar); Dave Davidson (violin); Steve Cox (organ); Michael Rhodes , Mike Chapman (bass guitar); Hillary Lindsey, Jessi Alexander, Jim Lauderdale, Jon Randall, Leslie Satcher, Anthony Smith, Ronnie Dunn, Vicki Hampton, Wes Hightower, Bekka Bramlett, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Kim Fleming, Maia Sharp, Bob Bailey (background vocals); Tom Bukovac (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar, slide guitar, baritone guitar, mandocello); Mac McAnally, Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Dan Dugmore (electric guitar, steel guitar, lap steel guitar); Chris Leuzinger (electric guitar, gut-string guitar); Johnny Garcia (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, Bruce Bouton (steel guitar); Wanda Vick (dobro, fiddle); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Sam Bush (mandolin); Connie Ellisor, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, Alan Umstead, David Angell, Catherine Umstead (violin); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Jim Grosjean, Kris Wilkinson, Monisa Angell, Gary VanOsdale (viola); Anthony LaMarchina, Carole Rabinowitz-Neuen (cello); Nashville String Machine (strings); Terry McMillan (harmonica); John Hobbs, Reese Wynans (piano, organ); Matt Rollings, Steve Nathan (piano); Bobby Wood (keyboards); Greg Morrow, Milton Sledge, Shannon Forrest, Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (shaker, percussion); The Alright Boys, David Campbell , Garth Fundis, Scott Paschall.

Additional personnel: Garth Brooks (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Jeff Balding; Mark Miller .

Recording information: Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN; Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Russ Harrington.

Trisha Yearwood's first album in four years, 2005's JASPER COUNTRY, not only marked a triumphant return for the popular country singer, but closely followed the announcement of her engagement to fellow superstar Garth Brooks. Impending nuptials aside, the album, named for the region of Georgia where Yearwood grew up, stands on its own as an excellent outing that balances country twang and pop-tinged melodies.

Songs range from the juke-joint rocker "Pistol" to the lively "Baby Don't You Let Go" (featuring the mandolin work of bluegrass mainstay Sam Bush) to the romantic hit single "Georgia Rain" (which includes Brooks on harmony vocals). Other highlights are the pleading "Try Me" (with Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn) and the rollicking closer, "It's All right," which ties up the disc in celebratory fashion. Wonderfully straightforward, JASPER COUNTY finds Yearwood in fine voice and avoiding overtly commercial leanings, resulting in one of her strongest and most well-rounded outings.

Trisha Yearwood took an unprecedented four years between her eighth album, 2001's Inside Out, and its 2005 follow-up, Jasper County. There was a variety of reasons for the extended hiatus -- it was one part creative, one part personal, as Yearwood weathered the storm of going public with her relationship with Garth Brooks (as of the release of Jasper County, the couple was engaged to be married) -- but the long wait proved worthwhile since Jasper County is one of her very best records, an album that stretches further musically than most of her albums while being more cohesive than most of her records as well. Reuniting with longtime producer Garth Fundis, with whom she's done most of her best work (he did not helm Inside Out), Yearwood's picked a set of 11 songs that aren't just uniformly strong, but are quite diverse. While there's a strong bluesy undercurrent here, highlighted by the slow-churning opener "Who Invented the Wheel" and the Bobbie Gentry-styled Southern country-soul of "Sweet Love," this is firmly a country album, with few concessions to pop crossover. The tracks that do have a lush, slick surface do tend to be the big ballads, such as "Standing out in a Crowd," but those do tend to be grounded with acoustic guitars and Yearwood's impassioned delivery. Plus, even those sweeping slow tunes are offset by such excellent ballads as the heartbroken "Trying to Love You" and the epic "Georgia Rain," which are pure country and lend the overall album a sweet, reflective quality. Even if the album does tend toward relaxed, meditative tunes, Jasper County works because instead of maintaining that introspective vibe throughout the album, Yearwood and Fundis bring in not just those bluesy, soulful songs for balance, but they find two rip-roaring Al Anderson songs -- the white-hot "Pistol" and the old-fashioned honky tonk anthem "It's Alright" -- to give this more country grit than has been heard on any Yearwood album in a long time. At a mere 38 minutes, the album moves along briskly, not just because of the short running time, but because the album is paced well, moving gracefully between ballads, blues like "River of You," and rollicking up-tempo tunes. The end result is an album that's not just one of Yearwood's most entertaining albums, but one of her richest records, in both musical and emotional terms as well. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Trisha Yearwood took an unprecedented four years between her eighth album, 2001's Inside Out, and its 2005 follow-up, Jasper County. The reasons for the extended hiatus were part creative and part personal, as Yearwood weathered the storm of going public with her relationship with Garth Brooks (as of the release of Jasper County, the couple were engaged to be married) -- but the long wait proved worthwhile, since Jasper County is one of her very best records, stretching further musically than most of her albums while being more cohesive than most as well. Reuniting with longtime producer Garth Fundis, with whom she's done most of her best work (he did not helm Inside Out), Yearwood's picked a set of 11 songs that aren't just uniformly strong, but are quite diverse. While there's a strong bluesy undercurrent here, highlighted by the slow-churning opener "Who Invented the Wheel" and the Bobbie Gentry-styled Southern country-soul of "Sweet Love," this is firmly a country album, with few concessions to pop crossover. The tracks that do have a lush, slick surface tend to be the big ballads, such as "Standing Out in a Crowd," but those tend to be grounded with acoustic guitars and Yearwood's impassioned delivery. Plus, even those sweeping slow tunes are offset by such excellent ballads as the heartbroken "Trying to Love You" and the epic "Georgia Rain," which are pure country and lend the overall album a sweet, reflective quality. Even if the album does tend toward relaxed, meditative tunes, Jasper County works because instead of maintaining that introspective vibe throughout the album, Yearwood and Fundis bring in not just those bluesy, soulful songs for balance, but they find two rip-roaring Al Anderson songs -- the white-hot "Pistol" and the old-fashioned honky tonk anthem "It's Alright" -- to give this more country grit than has been heard on any Yearwood album in a long time. At a mere 38 minutes, the album moves along briskly, not just because of the short running time, but because the album is paced well, moving gracefully between ballads, blues like "River of You," and rollicking uptempo tunes. The end result is not just one of Yearwood's most entertaining albums, but one of her richest records, in both musical and emotional terms as well. [This edition includes the bonus track "Love Will Always Win."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize