Mark Knopfler

May 16 - 23, 1 9 9 6

Despite the wide prairie separating Knopfler's audience and country-music listeners, Knopfler's name was mentioned in a recent interview between Travis Tritt and members of the new Lynyrd Skynyrd. To boot, John Anderson and Mary Chapin Carpenter cut versions of "When It Comes to You" and "The Bug," respectively, hardly a year after Dire Straits released 1991's On Every Street. None of this was surprising; it's just that Knopfler secretly wishes he could pick like Okie J.J. Cale and sing like (displaced) Okie Merle Haggard. Now, he's made a solo project ripe for the pickings of hit-hungry country artists.

Golden Heart has some gems to contribute to the Knopfler canon, including the bluegrass-inflected "Je Suis Désolé," the playful "Cannibal," and the contemplative "Nobody's Got the Gun." The songwriting stands on its own, instead of being merely a vehicle for Knopfler's guitar wizardry. The CD intro, a traditional Irish instrumental, sets up the semi-acoustic, broadly influenced fusion that can only be called "avant-garde." Avant-garde what is the question. Not country or rock, but something like if Roy Orbison met the guys from New Grass Revival.

-- Marc Levy

**1/2 Mark Knopfler

GOLDEN HEART

(Warner Bros.)