Caitlin Cary: While You Weren't Looking

As Ryan Adams burned out bandmates left and right in the untenable dictatorship that was Whiskeytown, only one person went the distance, sticking with Adams through his drunken attempts to play traditional country with the flippant spirit of punk. Caitlin Cary has asserted that she remained true to the prickly Adams just for the awe of watching him scrawl out timeless roots-rock ballads on a bar napkin, and for the rare nights when he realized his vision and Whiskeytown became the most exciting band on the planet. On her own, Cary doesn't aspire to such near-terrifying greatness, instead preferring to emulate the gentle poignancy and professionalism of her heroine, Emmylou Harris. Cary's full-length solo debut While You Weren't Looking (trailing her 2000 EP Waltzie) lets her sweet, expressive voice and her fiddle accents become the center of attention. The songs on While You Weren't Looking don't exactly smolder, but neither are they nonentities. All are written or co-written by Cary, and their strength lies in lines like, "The fireworks went pop pop pop / and I kissed him in the glow." The words freeze places and instants. The melodies tend to be less immediately memorable, though producer Chris Stamey helps develop advantageous arrangements, as on "Pony," which entwines piano, steel guitar, echoing percussion, and the distant fuzz of organ and electric guitar. Cary's music has a natural, organic feel, but it's far from stripped-down; mostly, the diversity of instrumentation provides a context for the singer's sonorous vocals. While You Weren't Looking leans heavy on songs like the tottering "The Fair," which showcases Cary's strong-but-not-showy voice, all country heartache and soulful burn. Even better are the rare up-tempo moments, such as the simmering, Dusty Springfield-like "Too Many Keys," or the jumped-up portions of the dynamic honky-tonker "Hold On To Me." Little on While You Weren't Looking has the "What is that song" stun factor of Cary's best Whiskeytown work, but she also leaves behind the frustrating restlessness of her perpetually incomplete former collaborator.