Think of Eleni Mandell on Country for True Lovers as a young Rickie Lee Jones with an alt-country twist, covering Merle Haggard and Irma Thomas. Needless to say, that one-sentence description is chock full of various different kinds of awesomeness, so you can take it as a hearty recommendation.I'll have to check out her other albums, which are, from what I gather, more "alt" than "country." Tom Waits disciples are always worth a listen.