Julie Miller - Blue Pony (1997/2020)

Julie Miller's first secular album, Blue Pony, combines the exquisite Appalachiana of Gillian Welch with the whispery confessionalism of Lisa Loeb. Julie and her husband Buddy sing on each other's albums and work with the same pool of musicians. Together they have released two of the best country discs of the decade. As good as Buddy's album was, Julie's is even better. She has a high, small soprano that evokes the emotional transparency of a teenage girl, but she's been through the love wars enough times to recognize the moment "when the lie comes down like a kiss on the lips." A strain of spirituality runs through the album that hints at her background in Christian music, and like Sam Phillips, Julie makes her religious concerns so down-to-earth that it's empathetic, not preachy. --Geoffrey Himes