Pam Tillis

There’s a recent trend among former A-list country artists whose careers have been slightly sidelined by the Music City machinations: They’re putting out their new albums on indie labels. Former chart-toppers such as Tracy Byrd, Mark Chesnutt and now the incredibly talented Pam Tillis rank among this group. Rhinestoned, the new release by Tillis, is an impressive collection of tunes that shows just how much she has matured as an artist, which may be the factor that works against her in terms of radio play. Tillis always made very intelligent country music, and Rhinestoned is no exception. Most music played on country radio these days consists of silly novelty songs and mushy love/tragedy songs. Here, Tillis presents 11 deep and occasionally witty tracks by top-notch writers such as Matraca Berg, Walt Wilkins, and if there is a better stone-cold country song than Leslie Satcher’s “That Was a Heartache” released this year, I ain’t heard it yet. 4 stars