Born to Fly
WithThree Chords and the Truth, her 1997 debut album, Missouri-born Sara Evans not only wowed listeners with her superb vocal chops, but also boldly and unpretentiously staked claim to a neo-traditionalist style that suggested she'd done a lot of listening toLoretta Lynnand the lateTammy Wynettein her younger days. WithBorn to Fly, her third album, Evans continues her descent from the neo-traditional high ground and her move uptown. She makes it clear she's also listened quite a bit to the likes ofTrisha YearwoodandBruce Hornsby, whose "Every Little Kiss" she ably covers here. On the exuberant title tune and on fine country-pop ballads like "I Could Not Ask for More" and the lovely "Saints and Angels," Evans proves she can just as sweetly and deftly patrol the uptown territory as she can the down-home highlands, which she revisits on the steel guitar-adorned weeper "I Learned That from You." Though not every song onBorn to Flyinsinuates its way into listeners' imaginations like the above-mentioned gems do, this solid, ambitious 11-song collection stands as another feather in this gifted young singer's colorful musical cap.--Bob Allen