OLD SCHOOL FOLK…Carla  Olson & Todd Wolfe: The Hidden Hills Sessions

Here’s a casual and relaxed session by a couple of pros that know their way around folksy blues. Todd Wolfe has had a career that includes stints with Cheryl Crow, and Carla Olson has teamed up with the likes of Mick Taylor and Gene Clark. This is not their first stint together, and it’s a rich collection of Baby Boomer tunes that come straight from 1970s Laurel Canyon a la Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

Here, they mix and match originals with some Boomer classics, teamed up with Victor Bisetti/dr-perc, Tod Wadhams/g and guests Lou Castro or Bobby Perkins on bass. The result is an earnest atmostpjere showing how acoustic folky music can be gutsy and exciting. The two voices do delicious work on harmonies as on the troubadour’d “Long Road Back” and “Light Of Day.” Wolfe’s voice is warm and faded as a pair of vintage blue jeans on “Long Road Back” and Olson is glowing on the minstrel take of Gene Clark’s “In A Misty Mountain.” They pull out an obscure Mick Jagger tune and work it well on “Blue” while the dramatic take of “Wild Horses” is a campfire classic. No Millennial groans here, the passion is palpable.

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