Brittney McKenna

Produced by Brandi Carlile, the eponymous 11-song collection offers snapshots of Brandy Clark the person, not Brandy Clark the pen-for-hire.

"We had basically farmed every nutrient we could out of the potential of this band's soil and we needed to let it rest," Sara Watkins says of the nine-year break between Nickel Creek albums.

Smith has written hits for Miley Cyrus and Garth Brooks, and was set to level up after two records of her own. Then, the pandemic hit. Now, she has a fresh perspective on her new, self-produced album.

Roots music has always had rule-breakers, but its shift this century toward genre-twisting innovation owes a lot to a 2000 album by three kids barely old enough to vote.