Valorie Miller

The album title would look good on the tight, ironic T-shirts that hang better on fitter kids than me. And though Valorie Miller is relatively anonymous, most of these nine songs live up to the clever, oxymoronic title.

The Asheville, NC-based Blue Ridge Mountain girl composes sweet tea Southern songs with a street busking ragged-n-ruggedness. She makes a fine first impression with “Luckiest Angel,” a Delta-tinged confession that begs for an Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack sequel. And her sun-dressed swoon hangs on ubiquitous guest guitarist Woody Wood’s slide. Here’s where the album’s theme (accidental or otherwise) of calling attention to less than righteous factions within the male gender begins a subtle emergence. It becomes more evident (and creepy) on “El Espanto (The Scarecrow)” and the tragic and twangy “Wishful Drinkin.”

Miller abandons the ‘lil’ bit country, a lil’ bit folksy’ recipe on “One Little Moon” to delivers a would-be cabaret hit that sounds as good as most people look in candlelight.

For more info see valoriemiller.com