When I received a handful of CD's to review as an omni, I was curious to see what they all had in common. The answer is virtually nothing! That turned out to be a big plus in my view, as they serve to demonstrate what a wide variety of music can be found under the folk music/story genre mantle.

Coming from Southwest Virginia, Doug & Telisha Williams, formerly known as No Evil, present a superb, real homespun recording. This is their second recording, and Rope Around My Heart really is a superb Americana album that gently flirts with bluegrass and old timey rhythms. It grabbed my attention straight away. Most of the songs are written by the duo --10 out of the 12 tracks to be precise. It is delightful the way the second track, Iris DeMents' 'Our Town', fits with their own material. In fact this is one of the best covers I have heard. The other cover song on this album is a haunting version of the ever-popular 'Long Black Veil', which also has to be recommended. Apart from some fine vocal performances I was impressed by the musicianship, so it came as no surprise to find listed in the credits for guest musicians Darrel Scott on guitar, mandola, banjo, bouzouki, and slide instruments, Kenny Malone on percussion, Dennis Crouche on bass, Eamon McLoughlin on fiddle and Becki Williams adding harmony vocals.

It was all recorded by Miles Wilkinson on the back porch of his house one warm day in July. It has just the right balance between vocals and instruments to make an outstanding folk recording, and the producer should get his share of the credit. Take a bow Miles!

Doug and Telisha should be proud of this album: Nice, easy listening that won't offend anyone, and I mean that in the nicest possible way!

On the back cover of Ed McCurdy's The Traditional Years - A Ballad Singer's Choice it says, and I quote: "This classic album a ballad singers choice is one of the greatest examples of pure folk song, sung by a master, recorded in 1956, this release marks the first CD edition of this wonderful cornerstone of the folk movement." I couldn't have put it better. The original recording was of course on vinyl. American-born Canadian folk singer Ed McCurdy was a chosen pioneer of the folk revival. His career stretched back to the late 1940's. Ed McCurdy passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 81. He was very influential and his songs have been recorded by many great singers such as Simon & Garfukel, Johnny Cash, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, and I am sure many more. He was very instrumental in bringing folk music to Radio and T.V.

Listening to this album, I gently mused how the style of singers today has changed from that in Ed's day. But isn't that the wonderful thing about folk music? The way the genre allows each singer their own interpretation of a song - long may it last!

Don't go thinking this is a collection of scratchy old 1956 recordings because it is are not. The engineer has done a fine job re-mastering the tapes, and the quality is excellent. There are 19 tracks here of all traditional (American) songs. All of the songs you will have heard of many times before such as 'The Lovely Ohio', 'Black Bay Hill', 'Green Grow the Lilacs', to name but a few, plus one or two I have to confess I had almost forgotten about, such as 'The Birds Courtship' and 'The Star of Logy Bay', which are certainly well worth re-visiting.

I liked the album very much purely from a nostalgic point of view, and I am sure you will too.

The album is published by Empire Music Werks, who have a website with more information about this album, plus other re-issues worth considering.

Whilst on my nostalgic kick, I took a listen to John Parker Compton's release Live at Turk's Head Coffeehouse. This is an album of contemporary songs, all written by Compton. He is accompanied by Robin Batteau on fiddle, and David Reiser on bass. Tracks 1 to 7 were recorded in a real live performance in 1968 at a coffeehouse. Tracks 8 to 15 were recorded live at WHRB studios in Cambridge. MA, also in 1968. Interestingly, they were all captured on a home reel to reel tape machine. All of these were done just before he was 'discovered' and signed to Columbia Records. I have to say Audio Restorations have done a fine job cleaning and re-mastering the old tapes.

So if you are a fan of John Parker Compton, you might want to search for this album.

Next I turned my attention to two CDs from Lee Martindale. In case you have never heard of Lee Martindale, she has a background in theatre and broadcast radio in the U.S.A. and occasional forays into stand-up comedy. However it is probably for her written work for which she is more widely known. For Lee is a named Bard, and lifetime active member of the SFWA, a fencing member of the SFWA Musketeers, and a member of the SCA. Here I took a listen to 2 CDs from this lady.

The first CD I turned my attention to is To Stand As Witness sub-titled Three Arthurian Tales . It is in fact an audio chapbook, with a brief introduction from Lee Martindale with an explanation about what you are about to hear.

The tales are entitled 2 "Metal and a Man Of Good Heart ", 3/4 "The Impression of Power", and 5 "To Stand As Witness At The End". It is in fact an audio book of the print edition 'To Stand As Witness' available from YardDog Press.

The story or legend of King Arthur of the Brits has been well written about so I won't dally with it here. Suffice to say it is a good story, fiction or not! The story, or should I say stories, here are pure fiction written by Lee Martindale. The stories are entertaining and well-written, and stay within the confines of the legend. The first chapter, "Metal and a Man Of Good Heart," deals with the finding and creation of Excalibur. In the second chapter "The Impression of Power," the King thinks he knows what he wants, but a young woman thinks she knows better what he needs! In the last chapter "To Stand As Witness At The End," the kingdom falls to treachery, but the truth of the matter is that it succumbed to a broken heart. Truly it's a good read.

My only tiny criticism of the CD as a whole is the microphone set up. It had a lot of low E.Q. on it and I found myself falling asleep listening to the story - not once but three times! However, I got there in the end.

I can't recommend playing this CD whilst driving! !

On the other CD from Lee Martindale, The Ladies of Trade Town, we find Lee as a singer song-writer with 11 of the 13 tracks on offer here written by Lee. According to the sleeve notes, the album was born out of an evening in 1994 when Lee was attending her first SF&F convention as a writer guest. I quote: Late one night she heard guitar music and the sound of people singing. She found herself joining a circle where "Some of the tunes were familiar, but the words were all wrong." Lee had found filk, filk had found Lee, and "things took a turn for the weird." This explains a lot of what you hear on this album.

The recordings are home recordings made using a single microphone. Because of this they hold a certain brave charm. Unfortunately, this may not be accepted by the ever more discerning public who have come to expect studio quality every time. I have to agree that the songs might have benefited from being recorded in a studio. It's not all songs, for at track five you will find a poem "They Say There Were No Women Bards" - which is self-explanatory!

The last song "Fever In The Blood" more or less says it all for the album. This is Lee's first album. It may not be technically brilliant, not that its intended to be, but if Lee's got a taste of the 'fever' for recording this is a brave effort. I have a feeling it won't be her last.