Naomi Sommers starts her aptly titled CD Hypnotized with a song featuring rich acoustic guitar imbued with her honey-voiced strong lyrics. In "Hypnotizing," Sommers' tone and style resonate with a sweet, lyrical folksy sound that reminds me of a younger, less-experienced k.d. lang -- no bad thing, to be sure.

"Now He's Gone" is musically more upbeat, despite Sommers singing of a "big old house where one is never alone" where she functions well despite the loss of a clinging lover with "sweet sad eyes." Sommers' lament within the song is that she misses her lover more now that he is gone, and that her given heart was lightly held, lightly taken and that, since she gave it, she is sadly alone.

"Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" is bluegrassy, with fiddles and all the trimmings, sung well by Sommers and company. Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris performed similar old-time folk music on several albums a few years ago, and this CD is as pleasing and well performed as those. Sommers is joined on this CD of Americana music by such musicians as Dan Tressler on vocals and fiddle, Beth Sommers on vocals and bass guitar, and a number of others who play dobro, guitar, banjo, mandolin, mandala and the like, all of which unite in seamless little gems that flow as smoothly as mountain stream water after the snow melts. With Hypnotized, spring is here to stay, and that too is a good thing.

[ visit the artist online ]