stars. "It wouldn't be quite right to call this a throwback album, but it does sound like vintage traditional country given just a bit of a polished edge," he concluded. Andrew Mueller of BBC also gave it a positive response, calling it "classic and classicist country songs". In August 2021, Smith's next studio album was released on the Fat Possum label titled The Cry of the Heart. It was the third project produced by Stuart and her first album of new material in ten years. The New York Times described The Cry of the Heart to evoke the traditional styles that "recall Smith’s ’60s era recordings". It was Smith's first album since 1976 to reach a charting position on Billboard, peaking on the Current Album Sales chart following its release. PopMatters gave the album an 8/10 rating and concluded, "If you wanted to understand what traditional country is, you could go to the same place today as you could have 50 years ago: a Connie Smith record." Personal life Smith has been married four times. In 1961, she married Jerry Smith, a ferro-analyst at the Inter-Lake Iron Corporation in Beverly, Ohio. They had one child together, born on March 9, 1963, named Darren Justin. (In the late 1970s, Darren went to Europe to become a missionary; he is currently a psychologist.) In the mid-1960s, the couple divorced and Smith married the guitarist in her touring band, Jack Watkins. They had a son before separating nearly a year after marrying. Shortly afterward, Smith married telephone repairman Marshall Haynes. In the early 1970s, Haynes frequently toured with Connie on her road show. The couple had three daughters. After divorcing Haynes in the early 1990s, Smith stated that she would never marry again. However, on July 8, 1997, she did get married for the fourth time, this time to her producer, country artist Marty Stuart. Stuart began producing her after writing songs for Smith's 1998 comeback album. Stuart described encountering Smith 26 years earlier, after attending her concert: "I met Connie when I was 12 years old. She came to the Indian reservation in my hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi, to work at a fair. She hasn't changed a bit. She looked great then and she looks great now." Stuart said he told his mother then that he was going to marry Connie Smith. Smith explains how they have sustained their marriage : "Make