Sally is truly an independent artist. She founded Larkspur Records, financed this record herself, promotes it and her gigs, tracks radio play across the country and most importantly, writes her songs. This isn't Bluegrass, nor can it be called Folk, but if you like acoustic music, this will suit your taste. Rooted in Arkansas and the West, these influences are abundant along with the seasoning of personal experience that lures people to come back for seconds.

The two most intriguing assets to this album are the expressiveness and range of Sally's voice and the dynamic introspection and storytelling of her songs. She writes all thirteen songs on this disk and she is very focused as to how they should sound. The musical core is Sally's acoustic guitar and Greg Schochet's mondolin, with Ed Caner adding fiddle, violin and viola, while Brian McDougall plays both acoustic and electric bass. Guest artists include Sally Van Meter on Weissenborn and resophonic guitar, Alice Shuffield, Sally's sister, and celeste Krentz sharing backup vocals and acquaintance and mentor Dr. Banjo himself, graces one song on the disk.

Abundant throughout this album are the overriding themes of family, Southern pride and reminiscing about past love, both romantic and material. Two very powerful songs are "South Carolina" about the daughter of a plantation owner falling in love with a slave and having his baby. A tragic story, because in the time of slavery there was only one solution, kill both the slave and teh baby. "Mildred Geraldine" is about a strong Southern lady who wasn't given a middle name at birth, so she gave herself one, and became a happily married woman with the strength she found. If you believe in yourself, only the scope of your dreams will limit you.

It's hard to explain the impact this album has had on me. I still have many of the songs dancing through my head and in this case, it's a good thing. Sally lives nearby, so get out and see her. I highly recommend buying this album before it sells out, as only a couple thousand were printed. Finding it will be as easy as going to her website and I bet Sally wears the hat of shipping clerk as well.