Country and folk blues aren't exactly known for inspiring projects born of years-long gestations or tortuous recording marathons. But then, Lucinda Williams is hardly your typical country artist. Only the second album she recorded in the decade since her highly regarded 1988 album Lucinda Williams, this collection was the product of six long years in the studio, sessions that saw notorious perfectionist Williams scrap one approach and take after another in search of elusive perfection. But Williams' obsessive bent paid multiple dividends on the resulting 1998 collection with gritty performances like title track and "Can't Let Go", scoring her many critical kudos, expanding her audience beyond a long-loyal cult, and scoring a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.