Leeann Atherton

Leeann Atherton

After a trip through the worldly acoustic sounds of Gypzee Heart, her previous band, Leeann Atherton returns to her roots with Heart Traveled Road. Under the steady hand of producer Rich Brotherton, who not only brings his guitars but a trunk-full of other instruments including mandola, harmonium, and cittern, the South Austin blues goddess offers up a hodgepodge of roots music that's sure to tickle her followers. She channels Dusty Springfield with "Change of Heart" and gets rowdy à la Delbert McClinton on "Kiss." As she has in the past, Atherton relies too heavily on cliché, the cloying spiritual "Soul Song" being just one example. That can also work to her advantage, however, as it does on the torchy blues "Remember Me," sounding like something Billie Holiday might have recorded. Heart Traveled Road won't win over any new converts, but it's likely to stir up passion in 78704.