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Laura Cantrell

WHEN THE ROSES BLOOM AGAIN (Diesel Only)  • Laura Cantrell

Love it, love it. Want to eat it like a warm piece of pie, want to drink it like a glass of wine. It's delicious. And the cover ranks with the Norah Jones CD in its arresting countenance. The mournful irresistibility of her voice has endeared the artist around the world. Elvis Costello selected her to open his tour, she's played a spot on Conan. That's fast tracking for a Nashville born, NYC based artist on the relatively small city label Diesel Only Records.

The artist penned a quartet of tunes, and picked twice as many with the taste and know-how of the former radio personality she is. One of the best is by one of Nashville's coolest people and songwriters, Amy Rigby, "Don't Break the Heart," and I love Joe Flood's "All the Same to You." But the best, the killer, is producer Jay Sherman-Godfrey's "Wait," which he calls his "Badfinger country effort." The title track's origin is interesting. It was originally thought to be an unused Woody Guthrie lyric and recorded for the Billy Bragg/Wilco CD Mermaid Avenue. Not only was it later discovered to have been copywritten by A.P. Carter (and hence dropped from the Bragg/Wilco disc) but also previously registered by two other authors under pen names…

Great band. The producer plays guitars, organ, piano, and sings backup. Jon Graboff contributes pedal steel, mandolin, 12 string, high string acoustic, nylon string, and autoharp. Those two cats get you off to a flying start. The rhythm section is tasty throughout, they are Jeremy Chatzky on electric and acoustic bass, and Doug Wygal on drums. Robin Goldwasser, Mary Lee Kortes, and Dan Prater sing harmony, and Kenny Kosek shows up on fiddle for a song.

Laura Cantrell's debut caused a big stir, Not the Tremblin Kind. We're after that now, late to the party again. Start at the beginning or pick it up here, but get on to this great artist with a genuine flair and feel for classic country. She's a real find and a definite keeper. • FG

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