Lucinda Williams

On this, her ninth album, the Louisianan renaissance woman is rocking more than she's country-ing, paying tribute to one of the greats (AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top") and spitting words in her awesome drawl. Perhaps Little Honey is not as emotionally ravaged as Car Wheels was, but few artists can ever hope to pull off that sort of personal exposure once, let alone be expected to do it again. "Little Rock Star" is Little Honey's "Drunken Angel," but "Honey Bee" is all-new territory.