Pieta Brown
Greg Brownfans  and lovers of Lucinda Williams'sEssenceCD will be  familiar with the spacious, minimalist roots sound of Iowan guitaristBo Ramsey's production  hand; a lucky few will have even picked up Ramsey's ownIn the Weedsrecord. The  Iowa sound (who knew?) now expands to include Brown's daughter, Pieta. The  younger Brown's songs are a litany of loss that might be too much if not for an  underlying toughness in her breathless vocals that recalls Chrissie Hynde as  much as any obvious comparisons to Lucinda. Brown and Ramsey offer a sound  deeply rooted in the blues, where songs of loss are traditionally cathartic and  redemptive rather than whining. The brilliance of this disc, though--aside from  its gorgeous sound--lies in Brown's offbeat but dead-on phrasing and slightly  skewed song structure, which combines with Ramsey's pithy, supportive guitar  work to create a beautiful vision of how roots music might fit comfortably into  the modern world.--Michael Ross