Maybe they should have subtitled this album O Sister, Where Art Thou? Like the music from the Coen brothers' O Brother... movie, Songcatcher celebrates the emotional purity of mountain music, the acoustic balladry of the Appalachians--only this soundtrack features an all-female assemblage. Among the luminaries who shine the brightest: Rosanne Cash, who sets the tone with the album-opening "Fair and Tender Ladies"; Julie Miller, whose original "All My Tears" could pass as an old spiritual; Patty Loveless, who returns to her Kentucky roots with "Sounds of Loneliness"; and Gillian Welch, who leads an a cappella rendition of "Wind and Rain." Of the more familiar material, Emmylou Harris seems like she's coasting through the oft-revived "Barbara Allen" while Maria McKee sounds like she's singing for her life on "Wayfarin' Stranger." Yet the emphasis throughout is less on vocal virtuosity than on the stark simplicity of the songs, the album more impressive as an ensemble piece than a showcase for individual singers. --Don McLeese
