Kathy Mattea
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Seeking to keep her music fresh by returning to its roots, Mattea made several trips to Scotland in the early 90s, studying the links between country music and raditional Scottish folk. Her own music kept getting rootsier and more eclectic, as 1991s ambitious Time Passes By featured guest spots by Emmylou Harris, folkies the Roches, and Scottish singer/songwriter Dougie MacLean. The albums title track and A Few Good Things Remain both hit the Top Ten, but overall the albums singles didnt chart as well as was usual. She subsequently had throat surgery, but recovered fully to record 1992s Lonesome Standard Time, a less ambitious but still eclectic album whose title track was a near-Top Ten hit. Mattea backed off her critically acclaimed recent sound for 1993s more commercial Walking Away a Winner, whose title track became yet another Top Five hit; however, the same year, she also issued the gospel-oriented Christmas record Good News, which won a Grammy for Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel Album. After a several-year hiatus, Mattea returned in 1997 with Love Travels, which balanced her folk and mainstream country leanings; it sold decently well, but failed to produce any major singles. Mattea subsequently moved to MCA for 2000s allad-heavy The Innocent Years, a heartfelt tribute to her ailing father. Wanting to explore her taste for Celtic folk, Mattea hopped labels to Narada, for whom she debuted in 2002 with the eclectic Roses.
