LAND OF MILK AND HONEY finds Eliza Gilkyson doing a splendid job of using a 1960s folk style as a template for singing about her dissatisfaction with early-21st-century issues. Gilkyson doesn't waste much time getting to the point, with the opening cut, "Hiway 9" serving as a prickly shot against the Bush administration's Middle East policy. From here, the Los Angeles native doesn't pull any punches, going from a tale of domestic abuse co-written with the song's subject (the heartbreaking "Ballad of Yvonne Johnson") to a previously unrecorded Woody Guthrie pacifist anthem ("Peace Call"). The latter is particularly interesting, since it doubles as a modern folk summit with Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Iris DeMent. Gilkyson even manages to keep a familial vibe going by not only serving up a country-flavored reading of her father Terry's "Runnin Away," but getting her kids Cisco and Cordelia to provide background harmonies on "Tender Mercies," a delicate-yet-disturbing tale of mothers living in the Third World.
This title is unavailable for purchase as none of our regular suppliers have stock available. If you are the publisher, author or distributor for this item, please visit
this link.