Trio makes sweet music together
a review by Doug Gallant, The Guardian (Charlottetown)

Three of this region's most gifted singer-songwriters have embarked on a musical partnership that holds great promise for lovers of acoustic folk/roots music.

Pooling their considerable talents to form this trio are Raylene Rankin, who achieved international stardom as a member of The Rankins, Cindy Church, who has experienced success as a solo artist and as a member of both Quartette and Lunch at Allen's, and Susan Crowe.

Only good things can come from this union.

And the first of those good things is a live CD recorded by the CBC in Halifax.

This set, billed simply as Rankin Church & Crowe: Live At Alderney Landing, features 13 songs, most of which were written or co-written by the members of this trio or their friends. Some are co-writes from within the trio.

One of the only songs to come from an outside source is a great cover of John Hiatt's Gone.

Some of the songs here, Rankin's Gillis Mountain and Cape Breton Lullaby, for example, are already familiar to fans of the individual artists. Others are new.

There's some very lovely stuff on this set, which embraces traditional Celtic music, folk and country.

The vocals are gorgeous and the harmonies, as you might expect, are almost angelic.

If you've been longing for a CD to soothe your jagged nerves at the end of a long day this could be it.

Prime cuts included on this set include Fell Back Up, Where Love Lies, Cape Breton Lullaby, Your One and Only Life and Better Things To Do Than Miss You.