If anyone thought of Texan songwriter Nanci Griffith as a goody two-shoes, that was belied by her recent album The Loving Kind. Intersection, her twentieth release, is often a product of hard knocks, ennobled by the country/folk melodies expressing them. Bethlehem Steel features a lament for a defunct mill in Pennsylvania, while Bad Seed lashes out at rebuffs from a hostile father. Just Another Morning Here revisits the singer's Late Night Grande Hotel. Covers include Blaze Foley's nostalgic If I Could Only Fly and the uplifting High On A Mountain Top – Griffith's first recording of a Loretta Lynn favourite. Assisted by British-born percussionist Doug McInerney, she produced the album with Pete and Maura Kennedy, who are supporting her on tour next month. Can't make Birmingham, Scunthorpe or York? Then hear this.

Peter Palmer