Misty River's Americana music has acoustic tints of Celtic, old-time, folk, country and bluegrass. As a sequel to their live album, "Willow" has engaging arrangements of five originals and nine others. Haunting aires, mournful ballads, and winsome lullabies might first appear to be their greatest strength. However, the mists rise when the four talented women transition from their leisurely approach to spiritually-tinged uptempo material such as "Homegrown Tomatoes," "The Cuckoo," and "Shady Grove." The latter includes some rousing twin fiddling and tastefully rendered key changes. Their standard instruments of choice are guitar, banjo, fiddle, accordion and bass. In their own personalized approach, "Willow" also incorporates some percussion, mandolin, shakuhachi, and uilleann pipes. The production and recording assistance of Billy Oskay (bigredstudio.com) becomes apparent in certain songs. 

The band includes Carol Harley (guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele), Chris Kokesh (fiddle, guitar), Dana Abel (accordion, piano), and Laura Quigley (bass). All four impart both lead and harmony vocals to the mix. In fact, the majority of their songs with singing incorporate 3- or 4-parts to the choruses, and they have become a key component of Misty River's rippling current. Their masterful guests include Rob Schnell, John Reischman, Hanz Araki, Doug Smith, Billy Oskay, Greg Clarke, and Tom Creegan. If there's one slight misstep on "Willow," it is the heavy double mandolin in the mix of "Tammany Hall," an instrumental with both Harley's and Clarke's mandolins. While the technique certainly imparts rhythmic intensity, it becomes a bit overbearing. 

The first half of "Willow" blossoms with their covered material. When Misty River chooses repertoire, they look to the great songs of Kate Wolf ("Green Eyes"), Dave Carter ""When I Go"), Paul Simon ("Kathy's Song"), Guy Clark ("Homegrown Tomatoes"), as well as some traditional favorites. Despite the genres they draw from, their technique is to look for introspective singer/songwriter material. By the second half of this set of music, the album evolves into a very strong presentation of Misty River's original material that is both entertaining and very listenable. The finest moments occur in Chris Kokesh's trademark songs, produced with evocative messages that feature her lead vocals with nicely-blended harmonies. The title cut is rendered so mournfully that the "Willow" truly begins to weep. Accompanied by only accordion, pipes, whistles and bowed bass, the result is one that oozes with expressive emotion.

Misty River's 4-part a cappella rendition of "Bright Morning Stars" is also mighty powerful. The closer, "Baird's Lullaby," written by Dana Abel, is a quiet little lyrical piece full of nature's imagery and optimism. This album is certainly not a sleeper. "Willow" is deserving of much acclaim, high recommendation, and widespread circulation. The four songbirds that flow along Misty River are similarly deserving of considerable recognition and success. This is a winning band with talent and verve. (Joe Ross)