Lucero / Ben Nichols "In the Heart of the Mountain"

Ben Nichols' from Lucero first solo album since 2009's The Last Pale Light in the West. Although not a concept album, the song titles in sequence do read as a kind of poem. The album features Nichols on acoustic guitar and vocals, as well as performing some of the electric guitar solos. He is accompanied by Morgan Eve Swain (The Huntress and the Holder of Hands, The Devil Makes Three, Brown Bird) on violin and backing vocals, Cory Branan on electric and acoustic guitars, and Todd Beene (Chuck Ragan, Glossary) on pedal steel and electric guitars.