Kim Richey The Collection 2004

You can't go wrong. Kim Richey is both a songwriter to the stars, and a rare talent in her own right. This collection compiles the best from her first four releases, Kim Richey 1995, Bitter Sweet 1997, Glimmer 1999, and Rise 2002.

There is much to recommend all four of them, but this collection is pretty much perfect. Richey operates at a higher level than almost any singer-songwriter out there, and while most of her songwriting for others has been country songs, her writing is often as pop/folk as Shawn Colvin or Cheryl Wheeler.

Her singing of her own songs is a good thing. Trisha Yearwood did a fine job with Those Words We Said, but not really any better than the version here. The song selection is great, and it sounds like what would be a greatest hits record for someone, instead of Richey's relative chart obscurity.

The first two records have a more country feel than Glimmer or Rise (and they were her best-selling), and the collection is chronological, so it's interesting to hear her develop into the writer we hear today.

If you're looking for a very talented voice and pen that you might have missed, check it out. It's very easy to like.