

The folks at the Drag City label have taken it upon themselves to unearth lost and overlooked albums from previous decades. Carol Kleyn was a harpist who toured with Gregg Allman and made a name for herself on the Renaissance Faire circuit. She recorded three albums over the years, including 1976's Love Has Made Me Stronger and 1980's Takin' the Time, which, like its predecessor, features a delicate and beautiful voice reminiscent of Judy Collins. For her second album, her producer Bobby Brown (known for the obscure psychedelic folk classic Enlightening Beam of Axonda) added a backing group for half the tracks. The modest trio gives her songs the flow of soft rock, somewhere between Collins and Joni Mitchell. During the album's second half, Kleyn accompanies herself on harp for the beautifully cosmic "Tides and Crazy Moons," the melodious instrumental "Intermission," and the spiritually uplifting "Prayer." Quite a find.