Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer - Seven is the Number (2006)

In 2002, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer were on the fast-track to folk fame. With three critically-acclaimed albums in their discography, a slew of superlative reviews and an aggressive North American tour schedule which included a five-week stint with legend JOAN BAEZ, the duo was poised for greatness. Then, suddenly and sadly, Dave Carter died of a heart attack in July 2002 while the duo was on tour in Massachusetts. He was 49.

With SEVEN IS THE NUMBER, Tracy Grammer fulfills her promise to bring the last Dave & Tracy project to fruition. Begun in the duo's home studio during the winter of 2001-2002, SEVEN is essentially a re-recording of songs from Carter's out-of-print solo album which had been released prior to his collaboration with Grammer. SEVEN was unfinished at the time of Carter's death; Grammer and engineer Mark Frethem finished the tracking, mixing and mastering in May 2006.

SEVEN IS THE NUMBER brings together dustbowl drifters, evangelists and prisoners, politicians and gamblers and defenders of the land. With acoustic guitars, violin, mandolin, and two perfectly matched voices, the arrangements are refreshingly spare and astoundingly appropriate. The frenetic and evangelical "Snake-Handlin' Man" arrives like a bat out of hell after the dreamy, violin-drenched title track, while faux-tuba accents mock the carnival-like underworld in the wry Texas Underground. Mournful mandolin tumbles across the desolate highways of "Gas Station Girl" while "The Promised Land" is an energetic guitar tune rocked by the fires of rebellious and disaffected youth.

This long-awaited, highly-anticipated final release by Dave & Tracy delivers on all the promise of the duo's first three albums, and then some. Coming four years after Carter's death, SEVEN is destined to be both a sentimental favorite as well as a valuable glimpse at the early writings of a musical and lyrical genius. With Grammer's graceful and emotive backing on violin, mandolin, percussion and vocals, SEVEN is an absolutely essential album for collectors of the duo's work. Folkwax ezine advises: "Cherish it."