Till I Turn Blue by Peggy James

Till I Turn Blue by Peggy James

'Till I Turn Blue' by Peggy James

Many songwriters reach a plateau and remain there—until they slip downhill. Peggy James continues to climb on her seventh album, Till I Turn Blue , reaching new peaks several times.

Inevitably, James will be called Americana. The description is correct some of the time. Sure, a trace of the Dust Bowl clings to her voice and a rodeo rider gallops into “First Kiss.” The album includes the old-school honky-tonk heartbreak of “Stuck on the Track” and, as if in contrast, “So Over You” is confidently contemporary country and crying no tears. In the old days, the ‘70s, the critics would have called it country rock.

But that’s only part of the story. Pulled by the horsepower of hard rock guitars, the melody of “Loneliest Girl”