Love Goes On

Fiddler and singer has been doing session work in Nashville since she was 16, and is currently a mainstay of 's band. Her first solo album nicely showcases her sweet and mellow voice, while mainly relegating her fiddling to the background (and augmenting it with viola and "chin cello"). She's chosen mostly slow and mid-tempo songs for , which is kind of too bad -- there's nothing wrong with slow songs per se, but the one nagging disappointment throughout the album is its lack of energy. Her -flavored cover of 's has a certain amount of oomph, and she applies a graceful twist to the whimsical flavor of the old song And when steps in to contribute harmony vocals on the gorgeous the effect is electric even though the song itself is languorous -- it brings to mind some of 's more heartbreaking songs. But her version of lacks the edge of romantic threat that gave the version its subtle bite, and is just as mundane as its title. Everything else slips by pleasantly enough, without really making you sit up and take notice. This is a promising debut overall, but not an unqualified triumph. ~ Rick Anderson