2013/1999. Country reissue; Here's a homemade album that totally hits the spot. Buddy Miller cut this twangy little masterpiece at his home studio, enlisting the aid of friends who dropped by to help out on various tracks. The end result, which normally would make a nice-but-disjointed demo tape, ends up being the freshest new country album to hit the boards in a while. Miller plays tasty lead guitar fills that fit like a glove with his vocals, no matter what the material. He has a world-weary, whiskey-soaked voice, full of crazed hillbilly nuances that are on open display, even on left-field entries like Gene Pitney's "I'm Gonna Be Strong," turned into a modern country radio-ready tearjerker. Along the way, Emmylou Harris, Joy Lynn White, and Steve Earle make guest appearances. But it isn't the guests that make Cruel Moon so special; it's Miller's commitment to the material at hand, whether it's an old favorite or something he and his wife, Julie Miller, wrote together; like the lilting title track or "In Me