Willi Carlisle’s folk music focuses on the folks in the shadows of the hills and hollers, or, as he calls it, “Critterland.”

That’s the title of his new album, a compelling follow-up to Carlisle’s 2022 breakout release, “Peculiar, Missouri.” Once again, populist parables are populated with colorful characters navigating the drama and trauma of life among the have-nots in ways that challenge simplistic assumptions about rural identity, bias and suffering.

The Joplin, Missouri-based Carlisle uses his literary background to craft fluent lyrics that make for a wild ride across harsh land; there’s a reason he references all-terrain tires. Songs about addiction, suicide, daddy issues and a two-headed lamb find beauty and lessons in life and death outside the mainstream.

Producer Darrell Scott helps vary simple arrangements with a deft mix of guitar, banjo, harp, accordion and more. Carlisle’s wise, wry tenor and stories don’t need a lot of instrumental accompaniments. In fact, there’s none on the final cut, “The Money Grows on Trees.” A seven-minute saga of greed, corruption and the outlaw way, it’s the place where folk music and poetry meet.