Ludwick certainly had the pedigree when she made her recorded debut in 2005 with the self-released For So Long album -- her brothers were musicians Bruce and Charlie Robison, and her husband was bassist John Ludwick, which in turn made country singer Kelly Willis her sister-in-law -- but she was anything but eager to the table. She was 30 years old and the mother of a young child when the songs started coming, and they were astoundingly good, the work of a grown woman who had seen life happen to her and her friends long enough to give her songs a sharp sense of wisdom and emotional depth, all of which provided For So Long an uncommon resonance. It also gathered a lot of praise from critics and fans. Ludwick, although she waited a long time to toss her hat into the musical ring, was a fully matured artist when she finally did. The release of her second album, Too Much Desire, in 2008, only underscored the point. ~ Steve Leggett