Allison Moorer: Singing Through the Pain

Does country music have a death wish, or what?

Here's a field that has been so starved for quality artists for so long, you'd think everyone in Nashville would welcome great newcomers with open arms.

But they didn't do that for Shelby Lynne a decade ago and they aren't doing it now for her sister Allison Moorer.

Their loss.

At the Roxy on Thursday, Moorer served up song after song filled with the emotional intensity and convincing, confessional edges that have been at the center of the best country music for a half-century.

She doesn't use the synthetic, pop-conscious approach of such current megastars as Shania Twain or Faith Hill, but operates in the richer, more soulful tradition that runs from Hank Williams and Willie Nelson through Tammy Wynette and Emmylou Harris.

Despite a sparse crowd, Moorer couldn't have sung with more passion or force if she had been performing to a full house at the Grand Ole Opry. Like the best artists, she makes you feel that music is not just a career choice, but an obsession.

And it made the evening all the more endearing to see Lynne standing at the back of the room, cheering her sister on.

Lynne is a superb singer who battled for years against being turned into a conventional country hit-maker before leaving Nashville and recording an album filled with the diverse country, blues and rock elements that she loved. The album, "I Am Shelby Lynne," still hasn't been embraced by country radio, but it is one of this year's most powerful works.

Moorer has been luckier in the sense that Tony Brown, who is president of MCA Nashville Records, respects her talent and encourages her to follow her own instincts. Her first album, 1998's "Alabama Song," was a strong beginning that included "Soft Place to Fall," which won Moorer and co-writer Gwil Owen an Oscar nomination when used in the film "The Horse Whisperer."

Moorer's new "The Hardest Part" is an even stronger album that may join Lynne's on some Top 10 critics' lists. It's a gripping look at the tensions of relationships, but it too has been largely ignored by country radio because the tone is considered too downbeat and the instrumentation a tad too traditional. Meanwhile, Nashville's lack of bold new artists has contributed to a dramatic drop in country music sales in recent years.