Always, Patty Loveless connects. Going heart to heart with her listeners, she sings their joys and sorrows. She connects to the ache or tenderness of each song's lyrics and she takes the connection back - all the way to the soul of country music. Born and bred country, Patty lives that soul, and with Dreamin' My Dreams she again makes it real. "That title reminds me of how I first felt when I came to Nashville," Patty says, "I felt I was living my dreams." With this remarkable album, the dream continues.
Patty's music reflects the vital richness of an artist at the height of her powers. Gifted with an unfailing ear, Patty has built a 20-year career around exceptional songs - and these are some of her strongest yet. With writers from Steve Earle and Jim Lauderdale to Delaney Bramlett, Richard Thompson and Lee Roy Parnell and the winning team of Patty and her husband and musical soul mate Emory Gordy, Jr., it's no surprise that this album glistens.
Sony Nashville President and staunch supporter of Patty's musical artistry, John Grady attests, "In all of the time I've worked in Nashville, the two people who have consistently made the best records in town are Patty Loveless and Emory Gordy, Jr.,"
"Keep Your Distance" opens the record on an energized note, "Same Kind of Crazy" rocks steady, and sweet melodies like "Never Ending Song of Love" and the title track aim unerringly heartward. There's wit and good time spirit here and there's warmth and wisdom and beauty too. "My Old Friend the Blues" evokes the essence of "lonesome," and "When I Reach the Place I'm Going" is sheer gospel soul.
"This is the most beautiful, poignant, pure country record that I have heard in a long long time, says Sony's John Grady. "I absolutely adore this record; all of it. I could not be more proud of a piece of music. Thank God it is on Sony Nashville."
The beauty Patty achieves in her recordings is a natural kind, nothing contrived or forced. "I feel much more confident these days in the way I approach a song," says Loveless. "On my last few records, I've just let myself feel a sense of freedom and trust. I've made a lot of records and I feel fortunate to be able to continue making them. So now I think, 'I just want to flow with it. Enjoy it.'" On Dreamin' My Dreams, the joy is infectious. With a crew of the industry's finest musicians and Emory Gordy, Jr. and Justin Niebank at the production helm, Patty "flows with it" on a stellar successor to 2003's On My Way Home and her finest work, from When Fallen Angels Fly to the groundbreaking Mountain Soul.
Patty's dreams began in childhood. In Pikeville, Kentucky and then nearby Elkhorn City, she grew up into music. A good screenplay writer seeking a subject would relish Patty's story, for here is the stuff of legend - a down-home girl finding her American dream. From a coal-mining family to the Opry, Patty persevered. Strumming the guitar her dad had given her when she was 11 years old, she followed destiny to the country music capitol. MCA/Nashville signed her, and in 1987, her self-titled debut marked her as a new traditionalist with decidedly contemporary appeal. Her pedigree was impressive: singing with the Wilburn Brothers at 16, befriending Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton at an age when most of her peers were tackling high school algebra. Patty's five MCA albums poised her toward breakout success. And then the Top Ten hits, a phenomenal run of 14, really started happening.