THE ART OF VIRTUE
Adrienne Young & Little Sadie
Addiebelle Music

Adrienne Young has a feel for the resonant themes of Americana on her second solo outing. She sings of prison, heartache and country living, and that's just on one song, "Ella Arkansas."

It's country music, but in an old-fashioned, string-band kind of way. Vivid fiddle lines race alongside hard-strummed acoustic guitar and the steady hum of a stand-up bass on "Bonaparte's Retreat/My Love Is in America," and Young's banjo picking holds the center on "My Sin Is Pride."

Her tunes mix narratives, such as "Ella Arkansas" and the murder ballad "Rastus Russell," with mountain-holler stomps, like "Don't Get Weary," and expressions of faith. "It's All the Same" is an inclusive song of belief with tight harmonies by Young and hot-shot guitarist/producer Will Kimbrough. Young tempers her affinity for old-timey arrangements with a more modern pop feel on the title track and the mid-tempo ballad "My Love Will Keep."

Young's voice is clear and sweet, though she can summon a world-weary tone when it suits the song, and she adds a surprising measure of grit to her vocals on the wry "Wedding Ring."

She sings on the title track of maybe reaching the promised land someday, but from the sound of things on "The Art of Virtue," Young doesn't have too far to go.

- ERIC R. DANTON, HARTFORD COURANT