Tracked from the soundboard at Chicago's Schubas Tavern with a full band, this Laura Cantrell recording reveals that the wistful Americana chanteuse is a powerhouse in a live setting. “Don’t Break the Heart” from 2002’s When the Roses Bloom Again makes for a solid opener, setting the tone with twangy Americana trimmed in weepy honky-tonk tones. Cantrell’s pedal steel picker plays a prominent role in a rustic roadhouse rendition of “We’ll Never Love Again,” while her covers of Jay Sherman Godfrey’s “Wait” and Dan Prater’s “Vaguest Idea” suggest that Cantrell loves putting her heartland spin on other people’s songs. She and the band play a stripped-down take on her “Early Years,” with this version leaving plenty of room for sprightly mandolin. “Mountain Fern” proves to be one of the most beautiful performances here. The song unravels a narrative about Laverne Williamson, a conflicted late-'40s country singer who played under a variety of pseudonyms before choosing religion over a recording career.