I Hope You Dance (2012)

Lee Ann Womack's third album, I Hope You Dance, finds the hypnotic middle between traditional and edgy contemporary country, mining just the right amount of bluegrass production values (keening fiddles, layered high-lonesome harmonies) to put the ache back into Nashville fare. With songs by Julie and Buddy Miller, Bruce Robison, and Bobbi Cryner, this is a triumph of musical integrity in a mainstream world. A