September 27, 2005

By MARIO TARRADELL / The Dallas Morning News

Redneck woman Gretchen Wilson didn't worry about her follow-up to 2004's 4 million-selling debut Here for the Party. She didn't care that second albums come loaded with expectations and pressures. Or that if she fails the second time around, her mega-success might seem like a fluke.

It never crossed her mind. At least, not that you can tell by listening to All Jacked Up.

On the album's dozen tunes, seven of which she co-wrote, the Pocahontas, Ill., native delivers her blend of traditional country and Southern rock with extra gusto. She even takes a risky detour, offering a totally convincing and quite jazzy take on Billie Holiday's signature ballad, "Good Morning Heartache." That one comes at the end as a hidden track following the autobiographical, honky-tonk country corker "Not Bad for a Bartender," a song that recalls her hard-knocks upbringing in local saloons.

Like Party, All Jacked Up showcases the unlikely star. Ms. Wilson sings of drinking, mothering, loving, longing and dancing. She can't deal with pretensions, as she declares on "California Girls," where she expresses disdain for "them Hollywood types" who haven't "even heard of George Jones." And on "Politically Uncorrect," sung with country's poet of the people Merle Haggard, she unapologetically cheers for the "low man on the totem pole" and the "underdog, God bless his soul." What's more, none of this sounds like an act.

Nashville couldn't make Ms. Wilson up. She burst out of nowhere last year with "Redneck Woman," an anthem and rallying cry for people to be proud of their heritage. She's part of the Muzik Mafia, the anti-establishment collective spearheaded by genre-twisting duo Big & Rich. In concert and during interviews, the no-frills artist embraced her past (single motherhood, eighth-grade education, an adolescence spent bartending) as a way to empower her audience. Her message: I'm real, so you can be, too.

And being real means revealing vulnerabilities. Here for the Party featured one country ballad exposing her tender side, the stunning "When I Think About Cheatin'." All Jacked Up has two: the melancholy "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" and the bittersweet "Raining on Me." Even on the vintage shuffle with the clever title, "One Bud Wiser," she sings about maturing in the school of life.

Ms. Wilson possesses that raw confidence to sing from her gut without sugarcoating. In many ways, she's like a young Loretta Lynn, full of fire, sassiness and heart. If she stays on this career path, in a few years she'll be the one to emulate.

Bottom line: The redneck woman's second album is fearless, amped-up and autobiographical, showcasing traditional country, Southern rock and even a little jazz.