Deeper Well
David Olney's three Rounder/Philo albums,Deeper Well,Highwide and Lonesome, andRosesform a lyrical suite of rare energy and emotional consequence.  Critics often celebrate Olney's howling voice and the embattled blues of his arrangements, but the power of these records lies in the uncommon wisdom of their best songs.Deeper Welldemonstrates his talent with a force rare in most singer-songwriters.  The material never fails him: the allegorical mysteries of "Jerusalem Tomorrow" (covered memorably by Emmylou Harris), the glowing and empathetic, but never sentimental, "Women Across the River", the bedeviling and dramatically savvy "Illegal Cargo", and what remains his best song, "If My Eyes Were Blind."--Roy Francis Kasten