Lonesome Standard Time is the seventh studio album by American country artist Kathy Mattea.

Both the title track and "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)" reached the American country chart top 20 in 1993.

[2][3] In June 1992, Mattea experienced a busted blood vessel on her vocal chords, which caused her to have surgery.

[3] Lonesome Standard Time was made at Creative Recording Incorporated, a studio located in Nashville, Tennessee.

[3][5] The album's material was described as introspective while having a production that mixed country with Appalachian and bluegrass styles.

[3][5] The album's third track, "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)", was also recorded by Don Williams around the same time.

Jack Hurst of The Chicago Tribune praised the album, commenting that it "offers the kind of arresting music the imaginative title would seem to promise".

Nash found it to be "too reverent and sluggish, and not even the driving bluegrass of the title tune is enough to transcend the album's ultrareflective mood".

[10] It did not climb higher until a 39 percent sales increase in March 1993 brought the album to the number 41 position.

[12] In November 1994, the album certified gold from the Recording Industry Association of America after selling over 500,000 copies.

[14] By December 1992, the single reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at the number 11 position.