Paul Austin (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin); David Michael Curry (viola, harmonica); Peter Linnane (accordion, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Pete Sutton (bass); Terri Moeller (drums, percussion).

Producers include: Pete Weiss, Peter Linnane, Robert Fisher.

Recorded at Zippah, Rear Window Studios, Brookline, Massachusetts.

Digitally remastered using HDCD technology.

Personnel: Edith Frost, Robert Fisher, Carla Torgerson (vocals); James Apt (guitar, electric 12-string guitar); Peter Weiss (guitar, lap steel guitar); Paul Austin (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Chris Brokaw (slide guitar); George A. Howard (dobro, mandolin); Vic Rawlings (banjo, cello); David Michael Curry (viola, harmonica); Terri Moeller (drums, percussion).

Recording information: Zippah Studios, Brookline, MA.

Arranger: Willard Grant Conspiracy.

Leaning into every key drop, pianist Peter Linnane kicks of a very comfortable and pretty new album from the Willard Grant Conspiracy. As the deep and chokey vocals of Robert Fisher wash in, "Notes From the Waiting Room" invites all listeners to come and sit beside the big man up front. Pledging love to family and best wishes to friends, Fisher asks for strength to continue his musical fight before Terri Moeller kicks it into a higher gear for "Christmas in Nevada." Undaunted, Fisher takes it back down a peg to where he seems most comfortable for "Kit Flying," and then continues to admit his self-proclaimed faults in the Pete Sutton bass-filled confessional "Wicked." Taking a step out for the drum and bass-based string circles of "Hesitation," Fisher rumbles back in for the snaky folk tune "Ballad of John Parker." The near-morbid down mood persists through "Southend of a Northbound Train," but is again broken by the ironic pacings of "The Beautiful Song." Returning to his call for salvation, Fisher pays tribute to Friends of John with "Drunkard's Prayer," which is both echoed and answered in the dark and ghosty canyons of "Closing Time." Closing the album is perhaps an explanation for it. "Stuck inside in the snow in Massachusetts," says the state-named chorus. It might lead anyone to get a bit dark. Fortunately, Fisher is able to put across his cabin-fevered pain in a way which, though disturbing, is oddly beautiful and stirring. Hopefully, it's just a song. ~ Matthew Robinson