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I love good instrumentals, and this is one of the year's best (and Grammy-nominated).
Ricky Skaggs is an excellent musician and a very smart man. When the Hot Country movement started to push the senior statesmen off the charts, he returned to his roots with a focused intensity that has, in many ways, been responsible for bringing bluegrass back into the mainstream in this country. A great collection of songs from Skaggs and his all-star band.
Jim Blum is always saying, "I need more women." I couldn't agree more. Sarah Harmer represents the next generation of female singer/songwriters with a delightfully springing and personal album.
After college, Vienna Teng gave up her musical dreams and went to work for the software giant, Cisco Systems. She's very smart, and that's partly what makes her sound so engaging – along with her beautiful voice and arrangements that use plenty of strings and Teng on piano. I still think she's nuts to give up the good job, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
The Weepies were the first artists that came into our music library through Folk Alley and not the radio station, so I'll always hold a place of affection for them. This male and female duo are fast risers on the folk scene with their delightful harmonies and clever songwriting.
As part of the band Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant-Lee Phillips rode the end of the New Wave. Since then, he's become gradually more acoustic (as the troubadour on TV's The Gilmore Girls he is armed with merely a guitar and harmonica rack) until now, Phillips has come full circle – paying tribute to his alt-rock idols with a collection of swell acoustic covers of the best of the '80s.
What is it with me and cover albums? Or is it just that cover albums have become the rage lately? A little of both, I suspect. I adore Vance Gilbert under most circumstances and this CD takes the singer/songwriter back to his jazz roots with a compelling overlay of folkish sensibilities. I could listen to this CD over and over (and, in fact, I have).
Hello Canada! I first read about this CD when it won a pile of prizes at the Western Canada Music Awards (he's from Alberta). I eagerly awaited its arrival here and was not disappointed. Maybe the happiest CD I've heard all year (includes a great duet between Lund and Rambiln' Jack Elliott on "The Truck Got Stuck" – which is about trucks... getting stuck).
There are many reasons that this CD made so many of our lists (and earned a Grammy nomination). It has great harmonies (Ronstadt still sounds fabulous) and haunting melodies and is one of those rare CDs that earns a second listen upon its initial spin.
If there's one CD on my list that leans towards the commercial, this is it. It spawned a top 10 song ("Upside Down"), but I decided to let that pass in favor of Johnson's sweet and airy soundtrack CD (I'm a sucker for soundtracks). It makes it seem like summer all year 'round, which makes some sense since Johnson is a Hawaiian surfer in his off time.
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