If there were ever a story to break your heart, Carlene Carter could tell it to you. If only her first album in 13 years could put it back together.
Stronger, a story about the past and present, as well as the forward movement of time, is the open book where the grand-daughter of country music’s Maybelle Carter scrawls out her own journey of picking up the pieces and starting over.
Just a few years after tremendous loss – the deaths of mother, June Carter Cash; stepfather, Johnny Cash; little sister Rosey; and long-time lover Howie Epstein, all in a span of eight months back in 2003 – the 52-year-old singer has come back to tell about it.
"It’s an album about love, loss, inspiration, faith," Carter said. "If people really listen to it, they’ll know my story."
Carter barely bats an eye in this guts-filled confessional. She pays homage to the loved ones she’s lost, as in "Judgment Day," which is about leaving Epstein, former longtime bass player of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.
"I walked away with nothing," she told the Marin Independent Journal. "I left with a suitcase after 16 years and three houses full of stuff. But when it comes to life and death, nothing else matters."
In 2001, when the couple was arrested for possession of heroin, Carter says she knew she had to get out. Epstein died of an overdose at 47.
"Tomorrow I’m gonna get up and make my shot," Carter sings. "Oh, but tonight I cry over what once was mine / True love never dies / It just walks away."
The album is a positive affirmation for the artist, made with support of her husband, actor Joseph Breen, whom she married in 2006.
Musically, it combines her classic, traditional country roots with poppy hooks, as well as a majority of upbeat tunes. Carter’s soothing voice doesn’t try too hard. It’s effortlessly soft and smooth at times, while in others it’s forcefully gritty, raw rock.
"Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger," Carter sings on the album’s closing, title track.
"Sometimes I wish I was younger and could pick up the pieces and run / But then I look back on the matter of fact: It’s a race that we’ve already won," she sings on "It Takes One to Know Me."
A solid album, Stronger is the product of repeated tests of character, and for that alone it’s worth a listen. But whether a country, pop or rock fan, it’s a true story to inspire anybody willing to lend an ear, and the heavily crafted tunes each have a style all their own.
