Violinist, songwriter, and composer and Jenny Scheinman's self-titled offering has been affectionately dubbed "the vocal album" by fans; it's her first to feature her voice up front. It is also one of two recordings Scheinman's issued under her own name in 2008 -- the other, Crossing the Field, is instrumental. The players are drummer Kenny Wollesen, guitarist and producer Tony Scherr, and bassist Tim Luntzel. Bill Frisell guests on one track, as does drummer Steve Jordan. Scheinman's voice is plaintive at its core, but it's disciplined and authentic. The material mixes folk, old-timey country, blues, and rock through four originals and seven covers. The opener, I Was Young When I Left Home, is a traditional folk-blues arranged by Bob Dylan. The lonesome vulnerability in Scheinman's vocal, juxtaposed with Scherr's slide guitar, offers a tale of regret and shame. Her violin folds itself into the bridge, underscoring the sense of distance and motion: her protagonist cannot stop moving; if she does, her "sin" will overwhelm her. We can hear traces of Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Elizabeth Cotten, and Mimi Fariña in this re-telling. Sadness is followed by redemption in her ragged-but-right country rocker, Come on Down, a love song to God's own desiring angel: "...He kisses your body, he kisses your soul/He kisses you all night and still you want more..." The beauty in the lyric is an invitation to a spiritual being with carnal talents.

1		I Was Young When I Left Home
2		Come on Down
3		Rebecca's Song
4		Miss Collins
5		King of Hearts
6		Shame Shame Shame
7		The Green
8		Twilight Time
9		Skinny Man
10		Newspaper Angels
11		Johnsburg, Illinois

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