John MellencampSad Clowns & Hillbillies

Weathered and rootsy, Mellencamp's late-career voice rasps like gravel on a back road, full of hard-won grit. Carlene Carter's harmonies brighten the corners while fiddle and mandolin lend a front-porch warmth to these tales of working-class struggle and survival. There's mortality in his throat and stubborn life in the playing. A craggy, deeply lived-in heartland record from a master of the form.