The State I'm In

The State I'm In

More than two decades into her career, singer-songwriter Leigh Nash shines a light on her Texas roots with The State I m In, a solo album that plants its feet on both sides of the border. Nash was raised in the Texas Hill Country, and The State I m In marks a return to her<br>days in the Lone Star State, though, with Nash whipping up a combination of Texas twang, Tejano, orchestral pop hooks and heartbroken lyrics. In classic country style, she sings about heartache and bad luck in a voice that swoons, sweeps and swaggers, backed by a band whose members include Emmylou Harris s pianist, Jack White s fiddle player and award- winning a cappella group Street Corner Symphony.<br>If The State I m In sounds like a country album, though, it s a wide-ranging, left-of-center country album, with songs that tip their hat to the past while still moving forward toward something new. Looking for a fellow rule-breaker who wouldn t mind pushing the envelope, Nash turned to Grammy-nominated musician Brendan Benson, who co-wrote one of the songs and produced the entire record. Alternately loose and lush, The State I m In feels like a reintroduction to an artist who s never really gone away, with Nash finding new life in older sounds. It s music for roadhouses, juke joints, make-out sessions, breakups, gospel services and drives across the American desert. You can take the girl out of Texas...