The Women of 90s Country

ISSUE #223

Every so often, I find myself foolish enough to make a country music Earwyrms. I’ve always had a soft spot for the sounds of the lonely soul, the quintessence of which is the singing cowboy, with his coyotes and his beans. So on Sunday, I went to Variety Playhouse to see Plains, a throwback country duet project from Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson. I sat down in my button-snap shirt embroidered with cowboy boots and crows, and they came out in matching pink prairie dresses, the brush-stick drummer in his bolo tie. They reached perfect harmonies and sang of back decks and potted plants.

Arguably, the last era of popular country that was any good was the 1990s, which is precisely where Plains gets all of their inspiration. It was last time any country woman got on the radio, and they led the industry—actually, they dominated. Shania’s Come on Over is still, by most accounts, one of the three best-selling albums of the biggest decade in music. She was surrounded in the mainstream by the likes of Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Martina McBride, and The Chicks, and there were even healthy roots alternatives in Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. Be it bar or arena, each filled a room of her own.

Today, Plains is about all we have left. This is no cheap homage or market ploy—these are fruits born from our spirit’s timeless vine. Crutchfield’s love for Lucinda Williams is no secret, so the surprise on the album is Williamson. It’s the songs that she leads that I loved most, though it helps that Crutchfield’s harmonies are perfect support. She’s just never sang quite like this before, fully embracing her Texas twang and letting her heart bleed like a prairie sunset.

I can’t stop listening, so I put them all here, surrounded by the 90s women that kept this sound alive just long enough for me to love it.

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