I just (finally!) saw Songcatcher last night, on DVD. I thought it a good (not great) movie, and I liked what music there was. The trouble is, for movie-making purposes they usually would give just a sample of a song and then go on to some movie action. I counted only three complete songs sung in the movie.

As I say, I understand why the moviemakers had to do that, but it's a disappointment just the same.

Before I take the DVD back to the library, I intend to record off several of the songs and parts of songs. I sing most of them in one version and another, and I may want to modify my version, influenced by what I heard and liked.

Dave Oesterreich