From the opening track, "The Galway Fiddler," Linda Welby sets a scene and continues through the other 11 tracks on A Story to Tell -- the vocal offerings in particular -- to recount stories, just as the album title suggests.

The most enigmatic track on offer is "A Lonely Lovely Man." This beautifully crafted and sung piece appears to give us a very sad story about a first love. I was almost tempted to break my first rule of reviewing and seek information outside that presented in the package.

Linda is blessed with a wide versatility in styles. She can switch from very folk-oriented tales of the fiddler to tracks that fit very easily into the "country and Irish" mode.

Her personal sounding songs include two lovely family tributes, "We Love you Mum" and "Dear Dad." Although these are written and sung with very obvious personal notes, I can see either of them being covered by other artists and becoming mainstays of request shows.

The singer/songwriter lists her influences ranging from Sean Keane to Pat Boone, and her output on this album certainly gives evidence of this. She is not corralled into a particular genre and as such will appeal to a very wide audience. In addition many of the songs have the strength to become hits for some more established artists.

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