John Wesley Harding - Trad Arr Jones (1999/2000)

Often compared to Elvis Costello, with whom he shares certain smoky vocal intonations, John Wesley Harding is working along the lines of another of his heroes, Bruce Springsteen. This collection, which puts one in mind of Springsteen's forays into acoustic music, features traditional folk songs recorded by the obscure but respected folksinger Nic Jones. (Jones withdrew from public performing following a 1982 car accident.) With little more than acoustic guitars and occasional accordion, Harding lights into ageless tales of unrequited love in which women are maidens and men are sailors forever lost at sea. Recorded over three days in a Seattle studio, Trad Arr Jones is a deceptively simple, powerfully immediate collection that casts its creator firmly in the troubadour tradition. --Rob O'Connor