Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Formed: 1993

Members:
Melissa Swingle -vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, saw
Brad Goolsby -drums, percussion
Daryl White -bass, bass fiddle
Guest Musicians:
Byron Settle and Tommy "Too Tall" Evans -guitar
Mike Beard -jawharp

Some people say that you can't get above your raising, but the friendly folk in Trailer Bride could be forgiven for having the words "most improved" emblazoned across the backs of their band jackets. Their debut album was an all-thumbs attempt to play country music that mustered neither intrigue nor charm. Smelling Salts is record number two and it is quite another shaker of salt.

Swingle has matured into a pretty swell guitarist whose lack of flashy chops frees her to savor each sturdy rhythm lick or spooky slide embellishment rather than crowd her tunes with pointless flash. Her writing's achieved a fine balance of playful artifice, college kid intellectualizing, and true-life story-telling. And Swingle's found her singing voice, an appealing blend of amiable goofiness and languid sexuality. The rhythm section's graduated from faux-yahoo stumbling to constructing a lively but uncluttered backing that's enhanced by co-producer Mike Beard's spacious, live-sounding recording. But whether she's scrubbing out a VU-meets-CCR pattern on "From The Rooftop," primping her way through the Nashville fantasy "Porch Song," or gamely chasing "Yoohoo River's" sprightly bluegrass melody, this disc is Swingle's show, and she makes the most of it.