Deeper Well

The third album from David Olney, Nashville's resident minstrel. Olney is a quietly charismatic and gruffly intense performer of charm and conviction. Although his songs have been covered by Mimi Farina, Steve Young, Townes Van Zandt and others, there's no substitute for David's own roughhewn, raw, end-of-the-world vocals, just the right voice to present his stories.

David Olney's three Rounder/Philo albums, Deeper Well, Highwide and Lonesome, and Roses form a lyrical suite of rare energy and emotional consequence. Critics often celebrate Olney's howling voice and the embattled blues of his arrangements, but the power of these records lies in the uncommon wisdom of their best songs. Deeper Well demonstrates his talent with a force rare in most singer-songwriters. The material never fails him: the allegorical mysteries of "Jerusalem Tomorrow" (covered memorably by Emmylou Harris), the glowing and empathetic, but never sentimental, "Women Across the River", the bedeviling and dramatically savvy "Illegal Cargo", and what remains his best song, "If My Eyes Were Blind." --Roy Francis Kasten