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Wikipedia says the band played in a big circle at RCA Studio A and a 10-piece string section arranged by Jordan Lehning was added later; Paul Franklin plays pedal steel, Ian Fitchuk keyboards and Mellotron, Fred Eltringham drums, Charlie Worsham banjo and guitar, and Misa Arriaga guitars, with Willie Nelson in a hidden track, "Are You Sure". Ryan Gore engineered and mixed. She told Paste that she had considered her live show this time, that the debut was pieced together with overdubs, and that she had never created anything based on any format; she named Glen Campbell, Marty Robbins, Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn as touchstones.

It debuted at 3 on the Billboard 200 with about 60,000 equivalent units, her best week to that point, and 1 on Top Country Albums, and sold 179,400 in the US by September 2016. Metacritic scores it 78: Spin's Brennan Carley gave 9 of 10 and called it a sophomore masterpiece, Pitchfork gave 8.0, the Guardian 3 of 5, and NPR's Ken Tucker said it falls short of a sustained great album. Saving Country Music dissented, finding "Biscuits" and "Family Is Family" very similar to each other. The Guardian ranked it the best country album of 2015, and it was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammys.