Gold In California: A Retrospective Of Recordings, 1975-1985
Kate Wolf died of leukemia in 1986, and listening to this exceptional, two-disc retrospective reminds us of just how much we lost. Her voice had a palatable ache, a lonesome grace, and she wrote so many thoughtful, finely shaped songs.  Every song her makes clear how well she understood the deepest aspects of both country and folk idioms:  "Like a River" flows like a classic bluegrass ballad, "The Sun is Burning" is an intense political meditation, and her finest song, "Unfinished Life" is a heartbreaking premonition of death.  Fans of Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, and Iris Dementmusthear these songs.  With Kate Wolf, the well is more than deep: it never seems to end.--Roy Francis Kasten