Wow -- the track "I Want to Sing That Rock 'n' Roll" just blows me away every time I hear it.

I learned about Gillian Welch the way I do about many of the singer-songwriters, by hearing her work covered by someone else. I first heard "Caleb Meyer" and "Elvis Presley Blues" on Joan Baez's Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. They were beautiful songs, and so I went to seek Welch herself out.

No big surprise, her work is wonderful. Her spare style on Time (The Revelator) lends to an intimacy that nothing else will achieve. For the most part, it's just Gillian singing, playing pretty simply on an acoustic guitar. Sit quietly and she comes into the room with you, haunting you with her words.

"Red Dirt Halo" is something I can definitely identify with growing up in Oklahoma. "Port Silt Loam" is the name of the copper intense red clay of the area, and the rusty stain is more pernicious than grass. There's actually a company in Oklahoma that uses the red clay to tie-dye T-shirts, it works so well.

Only one complaint: "April 14 (Part 1)" and "Ruination Day (Part 2)" is a two-parter, and I wish the tracks were put side by side on the CD. I love the song, but I doubt I'll listen very often, because it brings tears to my eyes. It'd be a lot easier just to skip both of them at once.