'Twixt the turkey and the bells there's a need for a breathing space and in this current cold snap there's nothing better than to lounge in front of a warm hearth and listen to some down-home countrified songs. Belying the heliocentric nods to warmer times cast by her surname and the title of her album, Ms. Sommers has delivered an album that caresses the earbuds, perfect for that mulled wine contemplative time as the embers warm this bunny burrow.
Recorded in Nashville by Jim Rooney (producer of songstresses Nanci Griffith and Iris Dement), Sommers comes across much in the same vein as these predecessors. Swinging lazily and with some nifty picking - Al Perkins on dobro for example - there are pieces here that stand comparison with their writings. "Come Home" is a surprisingly jaunty plea to a soldier stationed in Iraq. The lazy waltz of "Gray Sky Girls" with its sneaky dobro and keen fiddle compares the girls from back home in Virginia to the coolness of Boston city women. A lovely song.
Overall this a hickory infused, toe tappin' well sung collection of mature, comfortable, lived in songs that deserve to lift Ms Sommers into Bob Harris radio territory. And it did bring a spot of warmth into a cold December bunny burrow.