Mama's Hand
The parallels between Lynn Morris and Alison Krauss are too obvious to ignore. Like Krauss, Morris first made her mark as an instrumental prodigy (in Morris' case, on banjo) yet eventually made her deepest impression as a singer and bandleader. Like Krauss, Morris has recast bluegrass--previously known for its speed-demon breaks--as a slower, more song-oriented music on a series of superb albums. Morris hasn't achieved Krauss's commercial breakthrough yet, but it's not inconceivable that she could.   You don't need any comparisons to Krauss, however, to appreciate the distinction of the title track on Morris' third album,Mama's Hand. This Hazel Dickens song tells the universal story of a teenager somewhat reluctantly leaving a backwater town to seek her fortune elsewhere. Set against a very simple, nicely understated Carter Family-like backing, Morris's warbling soprano is way out front. Stripped clean of all the showy embellishments many singers mistake for drama, her plain, open vocal captures both the high hopes of starting a new life and the heartbreak of saying goodbye to her mother. She never whines but projects the strength a young woman needs to leave behind everyone and everything she knows.    Morris's three bandmates--Tom Adams on banjo, David McLaughlin on mandolin and guitar, and Marshall Wilborn on upright bass--are all alumni of the Johnson Mountain Boys, the best traditional bluegrass band of the baby-boomer generation. Because the quartet is fiddler-less as well as drummer-less, Morris's voice is the only sustaining instrument in the mix and thus it stands out dramatically from the percussive arpeggios around her.--Geoffrey Himes