Robin & Linda Williams - Buena Vista (2008)

A little bit folk, a little bit country, a little bit folk, Robin and Linda Williams are a longtime class act on the American acoustic scene, and this release definitely burnishes the legend. There are nods to Bill Monroe and Maybelle Carter ("Maybelle's Guitar and Monroe's Mandolin") and a simpler age of country, as well as the joys of marriage ("Tied Down, Home Free"), with songs that sound as if they've always existed -- a high compliment; it would be easy to imagine the Everly Brothers singing "That's the Way Love Goes," for instance. It helps that they're assisted by a stellar cast, including Tim O'Brien and Jerry Douglas, but their own writing and harmonies are faultless. They might get a little too sentimental on "Visions of Mother and Dad," but the rest is spot-on, with "Pretty Polly Williams" a song for the ages, a piece that would sound natural next to "Shady Grove." They've carved their niche, and it's a lovely, graceful one. This certainly doesn't disappoint.