You can’t go far wrong with an album by Jim Byrne if your musical tastes are usually satisfied by sentimentality that always stays on the right side of maudlin. His sixth solo album “The Garden” duly follows his chosen path with the alacrity of a mountain troubadour.
I would be reasonable to suppose that, to some extent, all music is personal to those who create it and it is the mark of true musical ability to take that which is personal and turn that it into something that can be consumed by strangers. Jim Byrne has written all but one of the songs on this album and it is fair to say that it would prove no hardship to listen even if you were unfamiliar with the many and varied facets of his musical career. There is, of course, nothing in the way of flashy production to be found in any of these twelve songs yet none is actually needed and, with folk and Americana influences never far from the surface, that omnipresent sentimentality never seems less than appropriate.
Much in the way of time may have passed for Jim Byrne but it is still a true and valid statement to state that he has not lost that connection between his lyrical literacy and his heart and the evidence to support that assertion can be easily found in “The Garden”.
Best song: “A Daughter’s Prayer”
Verdict: Straight from the heart.
Available from Bandcamp.