Eliza Gilkyson (Red House)
Intimate, delicate-voiced and given to musical introspection, Gilkyson, a darling of the Austin, Texas, music scene, bears more resemblance to Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell than she does to her late father, Terry, who cowrote such pop hits as Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This." Literate folk traditions inform the singer-songwriter's seventh disc, with every tune telling a little tale, from the plaintive "Angel & Delilah" to the quirky "Mama's Got a Boyfriend."
While Gilkyson, 51, whose son Cisco plays drums on the album, is a grandmother, she hasn't lost touch with her sense of romantic whimsy, as she demonstrates on the sweet love song "Richmond Boy." The presence of brother Tony, a longtime guitarist with the L.A. punk band X, might have hardened the sound of this effort, but he wisely defers to his big sister: Her honest voice and understated, life-affirming lyrics remain the core of her songs.
Bottom Line: A neo-folkie find
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