Texas Platters

Martí Brom

Heartache Numbers (Goofin')

The concept behind Heartache Numbers is so simple that it's mind-boggling no one thought of it before. Martí Brom, the little local lady with the powerhouse voice, chooses from a long list of country songs with numerals in their title and sequences them in order, one through 13. Even then, the idea is secondary to the execution. Tunes like "One Way Ticket to the Blues," "Four Walls," and "Apartment #9" are classics, but, remarkably, Brom makes them her own. Few singers today have the style and sensibility to handle such a feat, but she proves her talent many times over. If Patsy Cline were alive and recording today, this is probably what it would sound like. With Justin Trevino in the producer's chair and sprite support from a top-notch cast that includes fiddler Bobby Flores, Debra Hurd on piano, pedal steel master Dickie Overby, Levi Mullen on guitar, and Kevin Smith on bass, Brom breezes through ballads and two-steppers with equal elegance. The disc also includes a hidden track, a Buck Owens no-brainer, as well as testament from rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson in the liner notes. All told, Heartache Numbers is as good a slab of trad-country as you will hear this year.