10
On10, a celebration of Kate Rusby's first decade as a recording artist, she reminds us once again that it's possible to sing ancient ballads about brave knights, fair maidens, rustic villagers, and all the other denizens of Folk Song Land with an immediacy and emotional intensity that are completely modern. Four of the 15 songs here were culled from her earlier CDs; two new songs, "I Wish" and "Over You Now," were composed by Rusby; and two are live recordings. The remaining seven tracks are new versions of previously recorded songs, including "The Recruited Collier," the first song her mother taught her, and "The Wild Goose," a raucous sea shanty reinvented as a gentle meditation on longing. Rusby has been performing these selections for years now, and her new takes on them reveal a restless artist searching for a different path to the heart of familiar songs. She is accompanied by an excellent group of musicians, including fiddler John McCusker, guitarist Ian Carr, and accordionist Andy Cutting. Their playing is spare but each note is perfectly placed.10beautifully sums up Kate Rusby's first decade as a professional musician, while suggesting that the best is yet to come.--Michael Simmons