**Laurie Lewis and Tom RozumTHE OAK AND THE LAUREL
In
contrast to the incandescent music she has conjured up in the past,
Lewis, the
International Bluegrass Music Association's 1994 vocalist of the year, wanders
through an emotionally cement-overshoe'd CD. The band's performance at the
Somerville Theatre last fall was indicative of the California bluegrass that
Lewis mined with the Good Ol' Persons: accessible and charming. Unfortunately,
the lightheartedness of "My Dixie Darlin' " seems contrived amid the
overriding pallor of the CD. Rozum's mandolin and Lewis's fiddle shine through
the muck on "Sleepy-Eyed John/Tom and Jerry" and other fine, whirling
instrumentals. The title track is gorgeous and spare, relying on Rozum's
mandola strum and
John Pederson's banjo. And Lewis's weepy voice is all that is
needed to capture the soul of emotional and physical hardship, and of sorrow.
But this CD drags through too much unconvincing woe.
-- Marc Levy
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