When Lee Ann Womack’s The Way I’m Livin’ received a Grammy nomination for best country album last week, it made me hopeful that more people might give it a shot. It’s a hard album to pin down – country, for sure, but a little bit downbeat and very true-to-life. It’s quiet in a loud world. In my own experience, though, it rewards repeated listening.

It took me a few times to get where she’s coming from, yet I knew I’d be interviewing her, so I kept digging. Then I started thinking about her renditions of “Chances Are” and “Don’t Listen to the Wind” when I wasn’t at work. At night I studied the lyrics, which I rarely do.

Even after conducting the interview at CMT, I realized that her record kept pulling me back in. Now there are times when it stops me in my tracks, especially “Send It On Down.”

“I mean, that is the kind of song that just punches me right in the gut. I can’t wait to get a song like that!” Womack said in our interview. “I think one of the reasons I related to it was because it talks about ‘getting out of this town.’ And when I was a kid, I lived my whole life thinking, ‘I can’t wait to get out of this town.’”

These days, Nashville is lucky to have her. See the exquisite Live @ CMT performances of “Chances Are,” “Send It On Down,” “The Way I’m Livin’” and “Don’t Listen to the Wind.”