I got to listen to my copy of this CD twice as I drove back from the Portsmouth Maritime Festival. "Too bad the road isn't longer," was my thought as I pulled into my drive.

Jeff Warner has done a brilliant job of selecting and performing the songs, and arranging them so that one never knows what to expect next.

"River Driving" as the first track riveted my attention, and the final track "Mandalay" I could listen to forever. But then there's "The Little Black Train" lying in wait, as if ambush, just as you're just beginning to relax. What a splendid musical arrangement for "The Shanty Boy Comes Down"! And there is the haunting and uncompromising "The Southern Girl's Reply." And I love Barbara Benn's backup vocals. And, yes, Bruce MacIntyre's backup vocals are also outstanding! "The Bonney Bay of Biscay-O" and "The Jolly Tinker" are old favorites of mine from the Warner collection and it's nice to hear another rendition of them. "Only a Soldier" I was not familar with but what a story, and it didn't end up with the total slaughter I was expecting! "The Bold Privateer" reminds me of "Handsome Molly", another sea song successfully transplanted into the Southern Appalachians. And special thanks to Jeff for composing an extra verse to "Come Take a Trip in My Airship."

That's it for now!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble