Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell-- Begonias

Wow.

I've just found the country album to beat for 2005: Begonias, by Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell.

Listening to this album is enough to make this country music fan think he's died and gone to heaven. This is an impossibly beautiful album of perfect country duets, one that channels the spirit of Graham Parsons and Emmylou Harris like no album in recent memory. This album is so much more authentic, so much more graceful than any other recent country release that you'll have a hard time believing these songs were written; they sound like they've existed forever, and are tightly woven into the very fabric of American music. This one's a keeper, and one of 2005's best.