Through the ages there have been few voices that have had the power to reach down deep inside of our hearts and move our emotions around at will. Connie Smith can do that. She defines feeling. When Connie Smith opens her mouth and sings, it is the sound of a life fully lived. As sweet as it is fiery, her voice is an emotional lightning rod that knows and understands.

Connie Smith isn't one to do things halfway. From the time she released "Once A Day" in 1964, and became a virtual resident at the top of the charts, the petite blonde has embodied everything good about country music. And part of what makes classic country so powerful is its commitment to home, family and living life. That's what makes Connie Smith such a potent witness.

"I'll Come Runnin'," "You've Got Me Right Where You Want Me" (both of which she wrote), "Where is My Castle," "Ribbon of Darkness," "The Hurtin's all Over" and "I Don't Wanna Talk it Over Anymore" are songs representing just part of a fifty-plus album catalogue. She has always been revered as one of country music's queens. However, her family, not her career, was her priority. Raising her five children meant more to her than the spotlight, but her musical pilot light was never extinguished. Now that her children are raised, she has decided to record again. The miracle of the matter is that country music is in a totally youth-driven phase and its legends are usually ignored or forgotten. Hooray for Warner Bros. Records for giving Connie Smith a new canvas to paint on. It's a good thing! It has inspired good feelings throughout the music industry and spurred loads of well wishes from peers and fans alike.

Her Warner Bros. album simply titled Connie Smith, reclaims Connie's role as an important voice for every woman. These songs capture small moments, where everything changes...and the flicker of nuance in her voice gives her lyrics flesh-and-blood resonance. Just like Tina Turner, Connie Smith sings from the gut and looks for a way to make less say more. With a smoldering voice and a no-nonsense style, both of these women can ignite a moment, a song or an emotion, and that's what separates the women from the girls.

She's come a long way from Brush Arbor Music, her very first publishing company that she co-owned with George Jones. The path has been productive and her voice has only grown richer, and ripened into a wondrous instrument.

If you want to know about real life, four-on-the-floor, genuine country music, start here. Connie Smith makes a compelling case for the weeping ballad, the raucous two-stepper and the alternately saucy and plaintive bluegrass. She handles them all with style and ease, making this music feel like coming homeboth for herself, who's been away for too long, and the rest of us who haven't had much of a chance to appreciate the real deal over the last decade or so.