Allison Moorer is one of modern country’s finest (albeit most overlooked) singers and songwriters, so it’s no surprise that her first album of covers demonstrates all the taste, imagination and passion she routinely pours into her original material. The songs on Mockingbird, save Allison’s own title track, were written or co-written by fellow female artists ranging stylistically from blues legend Ma Rainey to punk rocker Patti Smith and Allison’s own sister, Shelby Lynne. They’re all tied together seamlessly by Allison’s artistic sensibility, her soulful voice and smartly sympathetic production from Buddy Miller.