I think it was Utah Phillips who disliked "young women singing their diaries". I tend to avoid that be it man or woman. But a song that elicits a feeling draws me back time and time again. I've been listening to Bob Zentz's CD of musical renderings of C. Fox Smith poems. He does one called Sea Dream, about a sailor finding himself dreaming about a ship that had no significance for him. He has fitted a wonderfully descending and repeating melody to it. It nearly makes me cry to hear it. So the music is part of it. Smith's description of the man's confusion about why he had the dream is wonderfully done. And of course, Bob's mellow voice sounds like he lived the dream himself (and maybe did). Guy Clark can do this, especially when he does the one's he calls "wrist slitters" like "Let Him Roll" and "The Randall Knife".

I remember going to a Joel Mabus concert, because I liked one of his funny songs (can't remember which). Every song Joel sang or played that night evoked some feeling in me. I was just stunned to hear a concert from someone who's every song touched me. Again a warm voice and a good instumentalist. Brooks Williams has the same triple threat singer-songwriter capability.

I have a record cabinet full of too many to mention. These are just examples.

Roger in Baltimore