Red Dirt Girl

Five years after making a sonic leap from her traditional country sound to record the critically-acclaimed but edgier Wrecking Ball, Harris returned to that more traditional sound for 2000’s Red Dirt Girl, but with another departure from her norms: this time, she wrote most of the songs herself. Like Wrecking Ball before it, Red Dirt Girl took home the Grammy for best contemporary folk album in 2001.

The tracklist features some frequent collaborators, such as Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and Rodney Crowell, but also some notable guest appearances from Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews. Highlights include “Bang the Drum Slowly,” an elegy to her father co-written with Guy Clark, and the semi-autobiographical title track, “Red Dirt Girl.”