Carrie Newcomer's songwriting has gotten a little more mature, and her sound has expanded a bit ("Playing With Matches," for example, is a big, earnest folk-pop number with strings). But at heart,
Newcomer is still the quintessential American folk singer -- she's inherited the un-daring but endearing, socially conscious style of
Peter, Paul & Mary and their ilk. The bigger sound occasionally gets in the way of the intimacy which is central to
Newcomer's charm, but it also makes things a little more interesting. ~ Darryl Cater