Full Circle, Loretta Lynn, CD

2016 album from the country music legend. Full Circle is Loretta’s first album release since 2004's Van Lear Rose. Full Circle takes a broad look at the First Lady of Country Music's history and legacy, offering up 13 new recordings that bounce between the Appalachian folksongs she learned as a child to newer versions of past hits like "Fist City." Recorded in the Cash Cabin Studio, which Johnny Cash built on his own spread of Tennessee countryside in the late Seventies, Full Circle was co-produced by daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and family friend John Carter Cash. The result is an album that doesn't necessarily stretch Lynn's legs, as the Jack White-produced Van Lear Rose did more than a decade ago, as much as celebrate her strengths. At 83 years old, Lynn still tours regularly and sings with conviction, and Full Circle serves as a sonic snapshot, capturing a living legend who'd rather record than retire. Two additional legends - Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello - make appearances on the album's final two tracks, but this is still the Loretta Lynn show, proof there's plenty of spark left in the Coal Miner's Daughter.