Various Artists - Heartworn Highways OST

Heartworn Highways' is the soundtrack from a documentary film shot in Nashville in 1975-76, which captured a moment in time when legends such as Townes Van Zandt were still among us and new voices such as Steve Earle were just beginning to announce their presence on the scene. The songs are all delivered in the barest and most basic fashion possible; just mercurial songwriters, armed with an acoustic guitar and their almost evangelical voices. When these guys sing it's near irresistable to sit up and listen to what they have to say. Forget the country angle, this album is simply about songs so powerfully pure that they reach right into the middle of you, grab you by the guts and shake you about. It's arresting stuff that'll leave you wondering what just hit. [Dave Reid]