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GREATEST FIND
(Accord Music Group)
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Colleen Sexton has what most contemporary folk tries to capture: a broad sense of history mixed with just enough modern sensibility and a clean, honest sound. And if she’s not quite as celebrated as her brother Martin, that may only be because he’s had a good head start. Greatest Find is just her second studio album, but already she sounds like a veteran. She has the range to pull off Bonnie Raitt–like blues ("Dear Arlene"), confrontational folk ("Benediction"), and even a rocker that nods in the direction of Mark Knopfler ("Pickin’ Up Sticks"). The old-timy "School Days" features a comfortable call-and-response vocal from her brother and Cliff Eberhardt. Her formidable backing outfit includes the guitar-and-violin duo Zubot and Dawson, bass player Andrew Downing, folk mainstay Janis Ian, and ace Boston dobro player Tim Kelly. Yet Sexton is just as effective telling her stories with her voice and drums (as on the seductive closer, "Way I Am") as she is with a full band behind her. Her vivid tales are set in a Massachusetts landscape, with characters who hang out at the Lizard Lounge and the Charles Hotel and take bus rides down the Mass Pike.
