I bear good news for the folk-starved among you. I hold in my hand the best "folk" album I've heard this century, and some of the last one, too. (A "folk" song is a new song that is written in a traditional style and point of view. Stan Rogers wrote "folk", Janis Ian does not.)

It is entitled More Maine Coast Music and it is not to be missed. This one passed my dishwashing challenge with flying foam. It can be listened to again and again. The performance is as charming as the material.

When you think of a resonant bass-baritone from Camden, Maine, what name leaps to your mind? Did you say Nick Apollonio? You should have. His voice is a formidable tool, rich and wizened. He blends well with his partner, harpist Kristin Tescher, who is, herslf, a fine singer.

Did I mention that the instrumentals are as much fun as the vocals? They use a lot of 12-string lead but the recording solved the usual fuzziness somehow.

The songs are nautical in feel, and sentimental in nature. (It helps to know Mainespeak, a collection of phrases that identify their user as a real Down Home Yankee. Things like mains'l and tops'l and snow.)

MM for PFS