Sleepless

by Kate Rusby

Overview

Hourglass, her 1998 debut, was a huge hit in her native Britain, and with good reason: her voice is a sweet but slightly rough mezzo, she sings and plays guitar with equal plainspoken skill, and she picks great songs. So you can't blame her for sticking with a winning strategy on her follow-up. With the help of young producer and fiddler John McCusker (of the Battlefield Band), Rusby serves up a generous program of minimally arranged traditional songs, as well as a few originals; there are more guest musicians this time out, including American folkies Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott, but they never clutter the sound or pull the focus away from Rusby's gentle Yorkshire-tinted singing. There's also an Iris DeMent cover, a version of the sweetly affecting "Our Town"-a song whose distinctly middle American overtones don't necessarily ring completely true in this context. But "Botany Bay" certainly does, and so does "The Fairest of All Yarrow," and if on "The Cobbler's Daughter" Rusby drops grisly details with a disquietingly off-hand grace, well, welcome to the wonderful world of traditional music. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson

Product Details

Release Date:	08/17/1999
Label:	COMPASS RECORDS
UPC:	0766397427720

Tracks

1. The Cobbler's Daughter
2. I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love This Night
3. The Fairest of All Yarrow
4. The Unquiet Grave
5. Sho Heen
6. Sweet Bride
7. All God's Angels
8. The Wild Goose
9. The Duke and the Tinker
10. Our Town
11. The Sleepless Sailor
12. Cow Song
13. Botany Bay

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kate Rusby   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals
John McCusker   Guest Artist,Banjo,Fiddle
Darrell Scott   Guest Artist,Guitar
Tim O'Brien   Guest Artist,Vocals,Mandolin
Andy Cutting   Accordion (Diatonic)
Andy Seward   Double Bass
Francis MacDonald   Percussion
Michael McGoldrick   Flute,Whistle (Human)
Dave Burland   Vocals
Ian Carr   Guitar
Roger Wilson   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Andy Seward   Engineer
Iris DeMent   Composer
Kate Rusby   Arranger,Composer
Tony Bonner   Mastering
John McCusker   Producer,Arranger
Moray Munro   Engineer
Ian Carr   Arranger