Kristina Train’s County Line is a stripped-down return from one of Americana’s most exciting voices.
The elegant Kristina Train has a voice for the ages — and a resume to match. The Savannah-bred, Nashville-based singer started at Blue Note Records as the last artist signed by Arif Mardin, paving her own trail between Americana, country, jazz and pop.
Co-written by Train and writers including Ed Harcourt, Kim Richey, Jimmy Hogarth, Mike Mattison and Paul Olsen, County Line happened almost by chance over the past couple of years. As studio availability, producers and players – including the strings of the Oklahoma Philharmonic in arrangements by Golden Globe nominated composer Brian Byrne – magically lined up, Train recorded live vocals with piano, drums, guitar, bass and pedal steel by sessioners for Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Heart and Tim McGraw.
The result is a collection that includes stunning originals, a flipside remake of Cher’s iconic anthem, “Believe,” and a trio of reinvented country classics by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson—now sung from a strong-woman perspective in Train’s raw-edge alto, which steeps each nostalgic phrase in the emotional immediacy of 2025. The result is a collection that includes stunning originals, a flipside remake of Cher’s iconic anthem, “Believe,” and a trio of reinvented country classics by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson—now sung from a strong-woman perspective in Train’s raw-edge alto, which steeps each nostalgic phrase in the emotional immediacy of 2025.
Across 11 tracks, there are lost loves, revenge, daydreaming, psychotherapy and two-stepping — all wrapped around the sweet and sorrowful tones of Train’s voice, which is at once familiar and fresh. With its stalwart major-key piano chords that evoke hymns, winsome yearning, and powerful storytelling, County Line is a parade of evocative slow grooves and honest choruses with hopeful hooks that burrow deep into memory. When Train pulls out her own violin in a reprise of the title track, it’s the perfect end cap to a tour of the modern Americana musical landscape.
