Country Blessed

Although Cris Williamson is first-billed on this duo album, arranger/producer Teresa Trull seems to bring more of her influence to it. Even more of a Western album than Williamson's solo set Prairie Fire, it displays a strong country influence, but one that is less Nashville than Laredo. "Calamity Jane" (a Williamson song with a 1976 copyright) is the subject of one tune, and "Fertanga," a recently deceased horse (1965-1988) another; both have photographs included. Trull is a more abandoned singer with a twangier accent than Williamson, and she uses that voice in the opening barnburner, "Keep On," as well as on "For Molly's Sky" (one of three good songs on the album written by Gary Marks) and "The Shady Glen." The last song suggests a strong familiarity with the work of Bruce Hornsby, with its textured country-rock arrangement and sparkling piano work. Trull also sounds like she's been listening to acoustic new age music in the Windham Hill mold, and she brings in such sidemen as Darol Anger and Mike Marshall to re-create it. Williamson contributes one new song, the heartfelt piano ballad "Mother, Mother" (written for a film of the same name about children with AIDS), but for the most part she is content to take a backseat, at least compared with her usual approach on her solo albums, and let Trull take the reins.