On her first two albums, 2012's Let Down and 2015's Royal Blue, Lilly Hiatt showed she was a talented singer/songwriter with a good eye for a story, a knack for roots-friendly guitar rock, and an expressive voice. The craft was good enough that it wasn't so obvious that she was still refining her craft, and 2017's Trinity Lane was an impressive step forward, a more personal and heartfelt collection of songs married to smarter production than before, while also revealing how much Hiatt was learning as a singer. If 2020's Walking Proof isn't as dramatic a creative advance as Trinity Lane, it makes clear that Hiatt isn't taking her growth as an artist for granted. Produced by Lincoln Parish, formerly of Cage the Elephant, Walking Proof is Hiatt's strongest work to date, an excellent set of songs that demonstrates she has a firmer grasp on the art of record-making than ever before, as well as stepping up her game as a singer and tunesmith. Hiatt sounds strong and self-assured on these performances, conjuring the smoke of Bonnie Raitt and the sweet clarity of Dolly Parton, but she can show her scars when she wants or needs to, and there's a level of nuance here that she hasn't reached before in the studio. Walking Proof doesn't rock as hard as much of Hiatt's earlier work, but the big guitars on "P-Town" and "Brightest Star" remind us she hasn't lost touch with that side of her musical personality, and the studio band is concise and soulful, thoroughly expert without turning glossy or too showy. When someone starts out as good as Lilly Hiatt did on her first two LPs, they sometimes have a hard time measuring up to the standards they set for themselves. But she's not only exceeded expectations with Walking Proof, she's made an album that will be hard for her to top, though no one who has followed her music so far would count that out.