 | | Reviews | | |  ELIZA GILKYSON
Land Of Milk And Honey
Red House Records RHRCD174
Listen chronologically to Eliza Gilkyson's albums and the phases of her life unfold like a movie, from hippie turned land girl through parent turned new-ager to casualty turned survivor. Now Land Of Milk And Honey delivers Gilkyson's customary sagacious lyrics and poetic imagery wrapped around ten personal and socio-political songs that she inhabits like a second skin.
From the opening Iraq awareness plea Hiway 9 to the newly-discovered Woody Guthrie closer Peace Call, it's a journey awash with empathy and connection. "I am a one-man woman/I live one day at a time/Keep one eye open/I got a one-track mind", she sings on the irresistable Not Lonely, and that sure sense of light at the end of the tunnel is a real spirit-lifter.
Though it's a ghost-train ride through the hinterland of personal relationships (Separated, the cello-driven Wonderland) and abused lives (the photojournalism-inspired Tender Mercies, the true Ballad Of Yvonne Johnson, Dark Side Of Town, loping down the highway trailing a louche horn section on a piece of string), only the sober, hymn-like Milk and Honey shows a momentary doubt in humanity. The Guthrie call for peace that follows, sung by a heavenly choir of Gilkyson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Iris DeMent and Patty Griffin, leaves no place for darkness.
Hard to categorise, that contentious term 'folk-roots' pretty much hits the spot for this wise, fifty-something storyteller with attitude. With a sparse, organic production from Mark Hallman and an occasionally Texas-tinged sound from some top Austin musos including Slaid Cleaves and her son Cisco Ryder, LOMAH is a must-have album for anyone turned on by intimate, seductive vocals, killer melodies and lyrics that hit the heart and refuse to leave. Cue the repeat button ...
Mel McClellan - April 2004
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 I've just got back from South by Southwest in Austin where I picked up Eliza Gilkyson's new album (Land of Milk and Honey). I can't agree more with Mel's review....this album is an absolute delight from beginning to end. I've heard five of her albums but this one takes her songwriting to a new level. Great arrangements and production too....only April but I can't see this NOT being my album of the year. Woody Guthrie's lost song 'Peace Call' should become an anthem for 2004. She's over here on tour in May....don't miss the chance to see her. In between the wonderful songs she's very engaging and funny too.
Gerry Evans, Twickenham Folk Club
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Folk & Acoustic
