Lantana

Caroline Herring confidently returns to the forefront of the American roots music scene with her album 'Lantana'. The Mississippi-born, Atlanta-based singer / songwriter took the producing helm for the first time on the new record. 'Lantana' is a masterpiece of understated intensity and in many ways an artistic re-birth for Herring, who took the Austin music scene by storm in 2002, but then decided to take time away from her career as a musician to focus on motherhood.

In many ways Lantana is Herring's re-imaging of the Gothic South, with a rich alto voice that soothes the listener even as she addresses difficult subjects. Herring has a journalist's eye for detail, a poet's sense of scale and language, and a life-long Southerner's understanding of the issues that shape the culture below the Mason-Dixon line.

There is no artifice on 'Lantana'. It's an album full of delights, lyrically and musically. And just like Caroline Herring, this album is the real thing.