It might not be fair to call Tampa singer/songwriter Ronny Elliott's latest a breakup album.

Because not every song is love sick.

But the "mythical child bride" from the pathos-soaked opener "My Blood is Too Red" is surely the same malicious muse propelling the self-punishing closer "Women Leave."

She even seems to haunt the 65-year-old's tender, lap-steel soaked ballad "These Dreams."

And must be the witchy woman who "took an old man's love and made him older" on the rollicking album centerpiece "A Doctor and a Lawyer."

Elliott, a country-rock pioneer rightfully respected by discerning listeners and critics from around the world has never been as personal as he is on "I've Been Meaning to Write."

His first record in five years, and again featuring a superb supporting cast led by guitarist/co-producer Steve Connelly, is a gripping collection of raw emotion peppered with the finest of hillbilly poetry.

The album should pain the woman who did him wrong.

For the rest of us, though, it's a pleasure to hear Elliott singing and talking in his gravely trademark manner, tossing off killer lines like:

"She took the same vows as I did, I guess she forgot them / She sticks to nothing, and nothing stick to her / Sleeping her way to the bottom."

Details: 8 p.m. Aug. 25, Hideaway Cafe, 1756 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Admission: $10. Information: 727-644-7895 or hideawaycafe.biz.

Wade Tatangelo, features writer, can be reached at 941-745-7057. Follow Twitter.com/wtatangelo.