Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings and Alison Krauss are among the guests on Starr's T Bone Burnett-produced country set.

A genre that once stood for individuality, ruggedness, stoicism is now all about conformity. The cowboy crossover does not fit for Starr

Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier,

When the Beatles fell apart in 1970, Ringo took refuge in his boyhood country dreams, for the underrated solo album Beaucoups of Blues. He flew out to Nashville to bang out a three-day quickie with pedal-steel master Pete Drake and a crew of Music Row session cats.

Ringo Starr seems to have been slowing down for decades. Yet, when he does push the boat out, he invariably sets sail for unchartered waters. Look Up finds him produced by hipster T.Bone Burnett, who wrote or co-wrote nine of these 11 songs.

"I liked the records he made. It has an edge," Starr says of the reclusive grandson of Hank Williams, who mixes country with heavy metal