KEEP YOUR SILVER SHINED

"On her fourth CD Virginia singer/songwriter Devon Sproule manages to sound both very contemporary and retro, venturing down old-time jazz, country, and moutain pathways. Sproule's vocals blend a delightfully contrary sense of phrasing with an authentic, if understated, Appalachian twang. Her sense of humor emerges on the slow, jazzy "Let's Go Out," while pieces like the title tune and "Does the Day Feel Long" are vivid photographic slices of rural Americana. Working with a small, low-key studio band, Sproule generates and amiable, laid-back groove throughout the disc, which concludes with Mary Chapin Carpenter on the traditional tune "The Weeping Willow." (M.P., Dirty Linen)