The lead single from the alt-country powerhouse’s new disc Blame It On Gravity is Dance With Me, courtesy of the Onion’s AV Club.

Not every singer-songwriter appears on Jay Leno before her first album’s even been released, but such was the buzz surrounding Mindy Smith. She’s in that category of mellow female singer-songwriters that get bucketed into “country” but which I’d have called “folk-rock” instead (see also: Carpeter, Mary Chapin).

I was drawn in by Come to Jesus from the first moment I heard it on the radio. Her Photos & Music page includes a few other tracks such as Falling, Hurricane, and a cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene.

The Old 97’s are a great alternative-country act out of Texas. Now, we can debate the term “alternative country” until we’re blue in the face, or we can just shut up and listen to the music. Suffice it to say it’s alternative-rock-type guys doing rootsy, traditional-style country instead of the “adult contemporary rock with Southern accents” crap that passes for “country” nowadays. Sometimes it’s the same guys doing country-influenced rock instead.

They’ve got about a dozen tracks on their Discography page. I’m particularly fond of their rockier tracks, especially Rollerskate Skinny and Indefinitely, but the twangier stuff like Bel-Air and Four Leaf Clover is also really great.