Unchained - Johnny Cash
Country/Folk, review by Gavin McNett
Essential work by the master. (11/7/96)

Keepers - Guy Clark
Country, review by Milo Miles
On Guy Clark's first live album of his 22-year career, the Texas songwriter reclaims his own often-covered tunes, highlighting a voice that's richer with dry, dusty creaks than ever. (04/07/97)

200 More Miles - Cowboy Junkies
Gentle Creatures - Tarnation
Country, review by Sam Hurwitt
Sam Hurwitt mainlines the Cowboy Junkies and Tarnation. (12/2/95)

Living in Clip - Ani DiFranco
Country/Folk, review by Lori Leibovich
With more than two hours of live music, the double cd "Living in Clip" is a perfect introduction to the powerfully sexy voice and dynamic onstage aura of indie queen/feminist folkie Ani DiFranco. (05/21/97)

City of Refuge/Standing In My Shoes - John Fahey and Leo Kottke
Country/Folk, review by Gary Kamiya
John Fahey's "City of Refuge" offers tonal noodlings that could have been done better by an autistic monkey, leaving acoustic steel-string guitar virtuosity to be picked up by Fahey protege Leo Kottke on the smart and understated "Standing in my Shoes." (05/20/97)

Live From Uncle Sam's Back Yard - Paul Geremia
Folk, review by John Milward
If your idea of a solo singer-guitarist is an earnest guitar-strumming folkie or a rocker trading in his Les Paul for a plugged-in Ovation on MTV's "Unplugged," your ears will be opened by the musical intricacy of Paul Geremia's performance on "Live From Uncle Sam's Backyard." (10/06/97)

Braver Newer World - Jimmy Dale Gilmore
Country, review by Kevin Berger
Zen country singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore's music is "therapy for the world." (7/1/96)

Blue Roses from the Moon - Nanci Griffith
Country/Folk, review by Dwight Garner
Nanci Griffith is never going to be Lucinda Williams. But as "Blue Roses from the Moon" proves, it's a mistake to underestimate her. (04/11/97)

I Lived To Tell It All - George Jones
Country, review by Dwight Garner
With "I Lived to Tell It All," country legend George Jones recalls his journey across "a sea of whiskey and a mountain of cocaine." (8/19/96)

So Long, So Wrong - Alison Krauss
Country/Folk, review by Keith Moerer
Bluegrass belle Alison Krauss returns to tradition on "So Long, So Wrong," a slightly defensive statement of purity that should win back those moldy figs who've abandoned her. (04/03/97)

Road to Ensenada - Lyle Lovett
Country, review by Sam Hurwitt
With his new "Road to Ensenada," Lyle Lovett, the country singer for people who hate country music, continues to transcend his genre. (6/24/96)

Evolution - Martina McBride
Country, review by Charles Taylor
Martina McBride may be capable of more genuine emotion than any female singer working in country pop right now, and her latest album, "Evolution," is a set of empowerment songs delivered by a singer with the chops -- and, what's more important, the passion -- to plumb romantic loss and confusion and resentment. (09/18/97)

It Had to Hapen - James McMurtry
Country/Folk, review by Mark Athitakis
On James McMurtry's fourth album, "It Had to Happen," the same world-weary characters appear again -- but this time the son of novelist Larry McMurtry has run out of compelling ways to tell their stories. (06/25/97)

"Hits" and "Misses" - Joni Mitchell
Country/Folk, review by Joyce Millman
Both sides of the greatest confessional singer-songwriter of our time. (11/4/96)

"The Real Mr. Heartache: The Little Darlin' Years" - Johnny Paycheck
Country, review by Milo Miles
The best of Johnny Paycheck: White trash alcoholic mayhem (1/7/97)

Live On Tour - John Prine
Folk/Country, review by Mike Britten
In a world where even John Prine can be found on the Information Superhighway, a disc like the good-natured and laid-back "Live on Tour" may be just the thing to calm you down. (04/23/97)

Pete - Pete Seeger
Country/folk, review by Sam Hurwitt
Pete Seeger, the folk legend and onetime Red Scare target, sounds great on his first studio album in 17 years. (5/27/96)

The Anthology of American Folk Music - Harry Smith
Folk, review by Alex Abramovich
Even today, 45 years after it's initial release, an entire generation of musicians inspired by Harry Smith lapse into reverential, religious terms when speaking of "The Anthology of American Folk Music" -- and record stores are having a hard time keeping the Smithsonian's reissue in stock. (10/06/97)