IN SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR, a small record label in Boston released an extraordinary album, though few beyond a handful of medium-sized newspapers noticed, and several only as the 30-year-old singer arrived in town to promote this quiet almost-masterpiece. Yet, the work began to win fans, due to its superior rendering of a wide range of new and old classics from Hank Williams to Bob Dylan to the late Elliott Smith.

After receiving only a quick summary review, the album snuck into Lorraine Ali’s 10 best albums of 2004 list in Newsweek. In late December, Entertainment Weekly‘s music critics published a list of important albums they missed reviewing, giving it an A-. In January, Greg Kot, the critic who last year published a revealing book about indie heroes Wilco, used the album to lead an article in the Chicago Tribune about quality popular music for adult sensibilities. Soon enough, U.S. News & World Report was complaining that this important album had been overlooked by the Grammys.