I was at epitonic.com last night, and I kept seeing ads for Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose, and seeing as epitonic is more an indie/electronic site, I had to see why they would advertise Loretta Lynn of all people to such an audience. So I clicked the link, and was left stupefied.

A player pop-up at the site, and it started playing the title track of the album, and it didn't sound like the country legend I had been familiar with as a child, not the sound I was expecting from a Coal Miner's Daughter. This was a something completely different. Especially after "Portland, Oregon" played...

"Portland, Oregon" blew me away. I mean, damn... that opening alone was worth hearing the song.... and then the singing starts, and its a wild musical ride with Loretta and producer/White Stripe Jack White. There is a rawness under all the production that is stunning to me, and unlike, say, Johnny Cash's cover of NIN "Hurt", there is just such a spark... I'm in awe of this song, and I just had to tell everyone else about it. Who would have thought a 68-year woman could make a song about a one-night stand sound so passionate!