Kelly Willis (Rykodisc)

"When the Hollywood powers that be finally get around to making the inevitable movie about the tribulations of Fleetwood Mac, Willis would be a good choice to play the early Stevie Nicks. She has the proper look (blonde and striking); she has potential as an actress, judging by some brief turns before the camera; and she has a tremolo-tinged, emotionally potent voice that's as musical in her country idiom as Nicks's is in rock. Willis even cowrote, with Nashville veteran Gary Louris, this CD's poignant, literate and unusually cynical (if ultimately optimistic) title tune: "Now time has left me feeling old and losing hope/Hell, I've walked a long way just to find the end of my rope."

A country performer for more than 10 years, Willis has writing credits on six of the album's 13 songs. This is perfectly fine—her songs are consistently good. But as accomplished as she is, since she has lived in Texas for the past decade, it would be nice to hear her sing material by some of the great Texas songwriters who have musical sensibilities similar to her own—Bob Wills, say, or Ernest Tubb, Guy Clark and Willie Nelson.—R.N.

Bottom Line: Terrific country music singer just keeps getting better