BONNIE WHITMORE
There I Go Again
This Is American Music

With There I Go Again, Austin’s Bonnie Whitmore continues to provide greater proof of the promise she’s been showing on the Texas music scene for years. While she’s spent much of her career to date playing as a side person for others (most notably Hayes Carll), Whitmore is very much her own artist at this juncture. If 2011’s stunning Embers to Ashes was Whitmore stretching her solo-legs, her new album is a triumphant sprint. Her voice is bolder now, and through tracks such as the smoky, country noir “Crying for Me,” she displays a great deal of authentic gumption instead of mere pistol-packed posturing. Further displaying her maturity, Whitmore goes moody-rock with the sensuous imagery of “Colored Kisses” set to a melodic, unobtrusive organ and crunchy, perfectly placed guitar bits. But given her folk-rich bloodline she shares with her both her singing father Alex and fiddle-playing older sister Eleanor, it’s no surprise that Whitmore shines especially bright when the There I Go Again’s rootsier elements kick in. “Too Much Too Soon,” a vulnerable wish to not fall too hard, soars with pedal steel, and both the title track and “Reckless and Young” rollick while letting the fiddle dance plenty. — KELLY DEARMORE

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