About this Artist

• Biography
• Interview

Editorial Reviews

A second volume of songs from June Carter Cash's potent Dualtone catalogue, Church In the Wildwood is in part a story of the Carter Family from its origins to the present day: Songs A.P wrote and the trio of A.P., Sara, and Maybelle made indelible in the country music canon form the bulk of the selections here. Additionally, A.P and Sara's children, Joe and Janette Carter, offer an old-time gospel rendition of "Anchored in Love"; June and Johnny Cash's son, John Carter, serves as producer; and former son-in-law Marty Stuart adds a beautifully restrained acoustic guitar accompaniment to June's expressive rendering of A.P.'s "Diamonds in the Rough." Truly, the circle is unbroken. Four the ten tracks are duplicated on Dualtone's other new Carter Cash retrospective, Ring of Fire: The Best of June Carter Cash, but those are supplemented by six other deep gospel ruminations featuring Johnny in a supporting role and a powerhouse band that includes the peerless acoustic duo Norman and Nancy Blake. Norman's rich dobro solo on June's self-penned "Wings of Angels" is a plaintive second voice to June's own, and Laura Cash's tender fiddle adds a yearning feel to the mid-tempo shuffle of "Kneeling Drunkard's Plea," a song credited to Mother Maybelle, June, and her sisters Helen and Anita. June's Spartan rendering of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," her pleading voice accompanied only by a deliberately strummed acoustic guitar, puts the capper on an album that looks inward for spiritual renewal as much as it appeals to higher powers for redemption, and in doing so speaks to fundamental needs, irrespective of religious orientation. David McGee, Barnes & Noble

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