Heather Myles - Highways & Honky Tonks (1998)

Myles is not a groundbreaker in her mining of Bakersfield and honky-tonk styles, but as classicists go she's pretty good. This is an improvement over her previous studio album (Untamed), due mostly to the better material (most of it self-penned); her vocals sound more confident and assertive as well. "You're Gonna Love Me One Day," with its Buddy Holly-ish vocal lines, would have obvious hit potential if country radio would throw its corporate consultants out the window; "Broken Heart for Sale," with its sad steel guitar, is a ballad throwback to the best aspects of the early-'60s Nashville sound. As a lyricist, Myles trots out standard honky-tonk phrases, but overall the execution and sincerity here are at a pretty high level.