Live At The Black Sheep is as true as its gets. These 4 artists put together one of the most prevailing acoustic live sessions recorded for an album this year. An album with songs that are so passionate and well written that itÕs impossible to pick just one as a favorite.
Live At The Black Sheep is a significant contribution to the folk music scene.
Few resist letting the soft shining of a melancholy turn into a cold fatalism. Or even worse, a callous cynicism. And the opposite, a softhearted sentimentality is unpalatable. When you realize how hard it is to let the music speak for itself on this shaky chord of the heart, you cannot help listening in amazement to Live At The Black Sheep. "We are frost upon a window. We won't pass this way again. In the end only love remains". Greg Brown sings it in Garnet RogersÕ Summer Lightening. Halfway through he forgets the words and asks Rogers for the next line. Rogers appears to be a very gifted songwriter (his Who CouldŌve Known and In The Wind are also great songs) with a fascinating voice. And so is the voice of Karen Savoca. Her Same All Over is hilarity and sweet funny madness while Between A Girl And Gone (a beautiful title!) and Bittersweet move you to the core. Savoca floats right above the lawn, touches the treetops, moves the clouds and the rooves and then blows softly over your head. A great skill, matched to a moving imagination.
Brown, again, is great. His version of Milk The Moon surpasses the version on the album with the same name and in Goodnight Irene he makes you laugh. But the most beautiful thing on this outstanding album might be the guitar of Pete Heitzman.
-- Wim Boluijt HEAVEN Magazine, The Netherlands
