Tanya Tucker While I'm Livin' LP

Produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, While I'm Livin' is Tanya Tucker's first album of all new music in 17 years and signals the return of this country music icon.

In spite of the reverence shown for country music made in the 1970s and the groundswell of nostalgia for '90s country, Tanya Tucker - an artist whose high-caliber hits spanned both eras - has been perpetually underappreciated. This year she found champions in Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile, who took up the task of framing Tucker with a warmly rustic, often rocking vintage sound on While I'm Livin'. The album cast a more intimate spotlight on her gravelly timbre and the sensuality and gravitas of her phrasing, but more than that, its songs showcased her interpretive gifts and, at long last, placed her at the center of her own enthralling mythology.