Reviews: Songwriter - Music & Media - 1997

Compiled by singer/songwriter and album participant Johan Asherton, who handpicked eight European and American artists, this is an excellent overview of the current folk scene. While New Jersey natives Scott Appel and Stéphane Dambry (Normandy) skirt the new age genre with fragile compositions, itâ??s obvious that the Indiana-based Leonardo is inspired by the grittier stuff of Nebraska-period Bruce Springsteen. The arrival of throaty Austrian Pina Kollars sees the intensity count increase considerably. Her Debt Song is reminiscent of Joan Osborne or Patti Rothberg. Asherton himself has feet firmly planted in the folk arena, with poetic lyrics to the fore on the violin-tinged Elsie's Gone Wild.

Dominique Surlapierre
Music & Media â?? January 18th 1997

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