Like a barrel-aged bourbon, Rosanne Cash keeps getting better with age.
After putting four years of seemingly constant touring between herself and last studio album The River And The Thread, her consistency, both as a songwriter and a performer, is such that we've almost come to take it for granted.
But then a project like Johnny Cash Forever Words comes along where her involvement might not necessarily be the marquee name that helps move mountains, at least as far as sales and press coverage goes, but her absence would be glaring.
Of course, the project itself was being curated and produced by step-brother John Carter Cash, who amassed quite the roster of talent for an album of songs crafted from letters, lyrics, and poems by Johnny Cash that were found after his passing.
While the range of stellar acts amassed for this project is pretty formidable - Elvis Costello, Kris Kristofferson, the Jayhawks, and even Jewel (heh heh) - Carter Cash must have been knowingly saving the dark stuff for the one person he knew could make sense of it and frame it in an empathetic, yet unflinching fashion.
Of course, to stir up as many ghosts as possible, the video for Rosanne Cash's "The Walking Wounded" was filmed at Johnny Cash's childhood home in Dyess, Arkansas.
The rest of these folks have their work cut out for them.
1. "Forever/I Still Miss Someone" – Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson
2. "To June This Morning" – Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves
3. "Gold All Over the Ground" – Brad Paisley
4. "You Never Knew My Mind" – Chris Cornell
5. "The Captain's Daughter" – Alison Krauss and Union Station
6. "Jellico Coal Man" – T Bone Burnett
7. "The Walking Wounded" – Rosanne Cash
8. "Them Double Blues" – John Mellencamp
9. "Body on Body" – Jewel
10. "I'll Still Love You" – Elvis Costello
11. "June's Sundown" – Carlene Carter
12. "He Bore It All" – Dailey & Vincent
13. "Chinky Pin Hill" – I'm With Her
14. "Goin', Goin', Gone" – Robert Glasper featuring Ro James,and Anu Sun
15. "What Would I Dreamer Do?" – The Jayhawks
16. "Spirit Rider" – Jamey Johnson