Hell Among the Yearlings

The songs range across a woman killing a rapist, a mining accident, a murder ballad and an ode to morphine. Burnett produced again. Apart from Burnett on piano and Hammond B3 on the closing Whiskey Girl, the record is Welch and Rawlings alone, with Welch on banjo for Honey Now and playing bass and kick drum while Rawlings plays snare drum and electric guitar on Whiskey Girl.

Reviews were favorable. Thom Owens of AllMusic called it a thoroughly satisfying second album, and Farnum Brown of No Depression praised its live, immediate feel, Welch's clawhammer banjo and Rawlings's harmonies. Chris Herrington of City Pages dissented, writing that Welch writes folk songs about writing folk songs, while Mark Kemp defended the authenticity of Caleb Meyer and Miner's Refrain in the New York Times. It reached 181 on the Billboard 200 and 9 on the Heatseekers chart.