Alabama Song

By David E. Thigpen

A newcomer to Nashville, Moorer writes songs that have an airy, panoramic sound and enough lonesome twang to fill a steel-guitar convention. She also comes with an impressive calling card: her lovely acoustic ballad A Soft Place to Fall was a breakout hit from the soundtrack to last spring's The Horse Whisperer. Moorer's deft songwriting proves she can live up to the advance billing. Classic mid-tempo heartbreakers like Tell Me Baby and Set You Free are her specialty, coaxing a gorgeously plaintive edge from her voice. Moorer may not have the pipes to belt it out like k.d. lang, nor the furious inner fire to rock and roll like Lucinda Williams, but if you like your country smooth and straight up, Moorer is someone to watch--or at least listen for.

--By David E. Thigpen