When I was younger I wouldn't have touched country music with the proverbial ten-foot pole. As I've matured, though, I've found that all musical forms have artists of merit within them, and by closing out an entire genre, you are depriving yourself of some very good music. This album would definitely fall into that category. The truth of the matter is that this disc is very nearly a perfect album. The only real issue here is the fact that there isn't a lot of variety in terms of pacing. The vast majority of the songs here fall into the ballad category and therefore it would be easy to hear a certain similarity. That said, it's a testament to the strength of the material that the music is so well written and arranged that you don't really notice it.

While without question Roberts falls into the country music genre, in many ways this music has as much in common with the blues as it does with that genre. For that reason, fans of the blues should also find this release of interest. Yes, Roberts' voice does have a twang, and many of the country music instrumental mainstays are present, but this release is nearly as close to the works of people like Bonnie Raitt and Billie Holiday as it is to female country icons like Tanya Tucker and Loretta Lynn. Don't expect to hear the more pop oriented country sounds of such recent artists as Shania Twain or Faith Hill, though - this is legit. It's difficult when listening to this disc to believe that this is the first album from this South Carolina singer. So mature is the songwriting and singing that it would be easy to imagine this lady being a veteran with many years in the business. That said, Roberts doesn't have any of the songwriting credits, that honor going to veterans - but her vocal performance is certainly all her.

All in all this is a disc that shows that there is still talent out there in the mass-market media machine called the music industry. It would be easy to ignore a new artist like Roberts as being some under-talented over publicized media creation. If you did that, though, you'd be missing out on one of the new real talented people out there. I'm looking forward to seeing where Roberts goes next. She shows a lot of promise for a long and strong career of making quality music. That's hard to find in this day and age.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2005 Year Book Volume 3 at https://garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2005.