***1/2 Valerie and Walter Crockett

UNBUTTON YOUR HEART

(Daring)

In the early 1980s, Valerie and Walter Crockett's good-time electric folk music could regularly be heard at the Tam, the Inn-Square Men's Bar, and Ed Burke's. After a decade-long sabbatical, they've returned with a more bluegrass-based sound, greatly matured songwriting, and their first full-length CD. Valerie's endearing vocals remind you of a female Bob Wills (on "The Computer Song") and the first time you heard Mary Travers (on the title track, where Walter's flamenco guitar style carries your imagination to a Mexican bistro). On the vocal end, Walter sounds like a road-weary Kris Kristofferson on "My Headache"; on the J.J. Cale-inspired "Southbound Trucker" he imagines a lonely life lived (and loved) one night at a time.

For audiences born in the coffeehouses of the '60s and '70s, Valerie and Walter Crockett's music is a long-awaited return to a warm and familiar place. For those who weren't, it's a reminder that staying true to yourself can have its rewards. Like a big, slow-developing wine, Unbutton Your Heart reminds us that timeless music sometimes takes time.

-- Brian Goslow

(Valerie and Walter Crockett celebrate the release of their CD at Club Passim in Harvard Square this Saturday, March 1. Call 492-7679.)