Some Lessons Learned

Although she hardly hides from hints of her past CCM recordings and deep-rooted experience with Broadway and TV, Kristin Chenoweth lets her native Oklahoma drawl blossom here. Some Lessons Learned is a country album gushing with emotion and unforgettable melodies. In the inspired “I Was Here,” she pines to leave her helping mark on a weary world in troubled times. Under earnest sentiments, the song's solid rhythms waltz with traditional tones while self-sung harmonies soar skyward. The following “I Want Somebody (Bitch About)” is a twangy tune that gets a little gritty as Chenoweth longs for that special someone while going down a list of prerequisites. Vintage guitars get cranked up and distorted alongside a stand-up bass in the rockabilly romp “What Would Dolly Do,” easily the liveliest song here. Chenoweth punctuates the chorus with a playful double entendre (“W.W. Double-D!”)—and yes, Elvis fans, it's the unmistakable backing vocals of The Jordanaires piping in. She pays further homage to Dolly on a moving cover of the Parton-penned ballad “Change.”