Hey, a civilized Kate Rusby thread! Woohoo! O frabjous day! :D

On the subject of her upbeat tunes, it's true she tends to stick with slower stuff, but I definitely think she's done some nifty quicker songs. In particular, "The Blind Harper" from Underneath the Stars, and "Hunting the Hare" from the Rusby/Roberts album are two uptempo favorites. And I do agree that sometimes the songs fall into a certain sameyness (as we've noted before) but every album always has at least a gem or two, no matter what. Her duet with Tim O'Brien on "Sleepless" still makes chills run up and down my spine, and the duet with Chris Thile on Awkward Annie is just delicious...their voices together are wonderful. IMHO of course.

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very, very good...and when she was bad, she was still pretty damned good!" ;)

Anyway, I definitely want to join. What's the secret handshake?