Performing Songwriter, July/Aug. 2005

The sun-touched folk songs on Laura Kemp's May are as clear and cool as rainwater. This is unadulterated acoustic folk. Though the country/bluegrass flavor is enhanced by some great mandolin playing by Steve Smith as well as some nice banjo, dobro and fiddle work, there is also something in Kemp's melodies and voice that lend a touch of twang to the mix. This gives the record a magnetic blend of classic American folk with Southern Americana, the result sounding like a mix of Joan Baez and Shawn Colvin or Joni Mitchell and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Kemp's warm voice and agile melodies help this all along. Then there's the highlight track "Sword Ferns and Salmonberries," which sounds like an Appalachian Civil War ballad. It's an anomaly on this record, the most hillbilly and least sweeping of the tunes, but it somehow glues the whole lovely package together. – CS.