Shame on me. I am lax and lazy, which I blame on advancing years.
Quite a few Mudcatters sent me CDs for review and I am late in aknowleging them and saying which CDs will be reccomended in the column. (The ones that didn't make the cut are either still on the short list or passed on to the booking committee of the Phila. Folk Festival. They are not so picky about trad as I am)
In the next issue, I will discuss Debra Cowen's live recording "Among Friends". Ms Cowan wallows in pretty but her command never wavers.
I will, also, tout a marvelous double CD from Kimber's Men, "The Stregnth of the Swell" because it is quite swell and it has the stregnth of a Samson. I'm not sure why they felt the need to use a guitar accompaniment on a couple of the numbers. Their a capella sound is stirring. Their version is exactly what "Mary Ellen Carter" is supposed to sound like.
Later, in the year, I will review a CD about the Irish potato famine. It's not in front of me, now, and I can't recall who sent it but I will.
Anyway, I thank you all.

                   Mike Miller