Regular Columnists

Artist: Nancy Walker
Album: “Layers of Rust and Time”
CD Review: Walker’s “Layers of Rust and Time” is sometimes folk, sometimes jazz, sometimes twangy and always enjoyable.

Walker’s silky warm voice floats and fits into each song like a glove. Walker’s songwriting is strong but equally strong a contribution to the CD is Larry Clyman. He adds a large amount of fine instrumentation. He also produced, recorded and mixed the CD. He made excellent choices in instrument arrangement. It is varied but still sounds consistent to the ear. His guitar work is stellar and adds an extra shine that makes the CD a real stand out (Upon reading the liner notes I see that this pair were smart enough to marry inside and outside the studio).

As I mentioned, Walker’s songwriting is quite strong. Her varied styles are sophisticated and pleasantly familiar at the same time. “Here’s looking at Love” would make her a star in Austin, and “Dreamwalker” could be a song Joni Mitchell edited off one of her CD’s by mistake.

Fans of Mary Chapin Carpenter or Eliza Gilkyson will be delighted to find another grownup woman with a collection of great songs.

http://www.nancywalker.net