Matraca Berg

Sunday Morning To Saturday Night (Rising Tide Records)

Like Rodney Crowell and John Hiatt before her, Matraca Berg has made a name for herself in Nashville as a singer's songwriter, cranking out catchy, memorable hits for other folks like Deana Carter ("Strawberry Wine") and Trisha Yearwood ("Wrong Side of Memphis").

And like Crowell and Hiatt, it took Berg years to get the country music establishment to recognize her as the great singer she is and give her a well-worth-the-wait record contact.

With her third solo album, Sunday Morning To Saturday Night, Berg seems poised on the brink of a breakthrough that should put her on the country music map. With subtlety and wit, Berg tackles 11 of her own songs with soulful passion and a voice that never quits. Berg constructs a song-cycle of life in the small-town South, with characters who have a strong sense of morality, coupled with confusion about their day-to-day choices.

Many of Berg's songs touch on human loneliness and the ways it propels people to connect with others, both positively and negatively. Berg smartly includes just about every style of country you can have, from the rousing, anthem-like "That Train Don't Run," to a tender-hearted ballad, "Back When We Were Beautiful," where an old woman reflects on her life through the memories captured in a photo album. Bottom line: Berg has a gorgeous singing voice and can't write a bad song. With a little luck, Sunday Morning will help her finally get noticed as more than just Nashville's top woman songwriter.

-Nicole Pensiero