I'm Still Here

Personnel: Christopher Jak (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Larry Byrom, Michael Spriggs (acoustic guitar); Trey Bruce (electric guitar, percussion); John Osborne , Jerry McPherson, Pat Buchanan, Jason "Slim" Gambill, Brent Mason (electric guitar); Smith Curry (dobro); Charlie Worsham (mandolin); Jonathan Yudkin (violin, viola, cello); Stevie Blacke (strings); Jimmy Nichols (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Jeremy Lawton, Patrick Warren, Tony Harrell (piano, keyboards); Greg Morrow, Paul Leim, Matt Billingslea (drums); Crystal Taliaferro, Stephanie Lane Stephenson, Robin Lee, Wendy Moten, Rachel Thibodeau (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: David Buchanan ; Chris Roach ; Jason Livermore; Jeff Juliano ; Jeremy Lawton; Kevin Beamish; Andrew Berlin.
Recording information: Bone-Us Tracks Studios, White House, TN; Grandma's Studio, Denver, CO; Omni Studios; PocketStudio; Quad Studios; The Blasting Room, Ft. Collins, CO; The Tracking Room, Nashville, TN.
Released a matter of weeks after Mindy McCready's stint on VH1's Celebrity Rehab concluded, I'm Still Here plays like a survivor's handbook, a testament to the singer's newfound sobriety. Reflective and gentle even when the tempo starts to skip, I'm Still Here is certainly the quietest of McCready's records and it's also the most heartfelt, playing as a confessional. As it happens, she co-wrote only a handful of these songs, which hardly invalidates McCready's meditative comeback as she handles these songs gracefully and with feeling. Ultimately, what matters on I'm Still Here is that outpouring of emotion: the songs are generally a mixed bag, veering from sweetly melancholy to syrupy, but McCready has never been more sensitive as a vocalist, pulling the album through the rough patches and convincingly selling the notion that she's a sober survivor. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine