Some people wish really hard that they'd been born in a different time or place. Such is the case, I'll wager, with the members of Smithfield Fair, a Louisiana band with Scottish aspirations.

Smithfield Fair is Jan Smith on vocals, accordion and guitar, Dudley-Brian Smith on vocals, guitar, mandolin, tin whistle, Highland bagpipes and Scottish smallpipes, Frank Bladen on percussion, including bodhran and doumbek, and vocals, and Marty Bergen on bass, bodhran and vocals. Damon Small guests on the Scottish side drum and other percussion instruments.

The band is quite particular about assuring listeners that the music is played on traditional instruments. In the liner notes, following a list of musicians, the reader is told that "no synthesizers were used in the creation of this music." So purists, rest easy!

Based in Baton Rouge, La., Smithfield Fair touts stronger ties to Appin in West Argyll, Scotland ... so much so that song titles are listed in Scots Gaelic. Most are traditionals, although Smith has penned several of his own. Of the originals, "Longships" and "Giants' Dance" are particularly evocative of ancient Scotland.

Songs deal with the standard fair of the mystical Celts -- babies stolen by the faeries, Viking marauders, those who fare on the sea and those left behind to wait, the mysterious standing stones -- as well as songs about the more recent past, like the Jacobite rebellion of the early 18th century. Lyrics are sung in English, Gaelic and Scots dialect.

While it's unlikely anyone will mistake the voices on Highland Call as genuine Scots, the band does work hard to promote its Highland image. The band honed its style in pubs and at Scottish and Irish festivals, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they've sung around their share of bonfires at medieval reenactments, too.

The singing and playing on Highland Call is uniformly strong and well-executed. Vocal harmonies aren't fancy, but they definitely create an image of feast-hall bards entertaining their clan by firelight. While this isn't an album I'd suggest going to great lengths to acquire, it's definitely worth picking up if you can.