It may be a cliché to compare a singer/songwriter's work to short story writing—but Bill Morrissey was a published novelist as well as a songsmith, so the comparison is more apropos than usual. With his Mississippi John Hurt–influenced fingerpicking style and grizzled-old-prospector voice, Morrissey gave every tune he touched a singular sound. This collection covers almost his entire career and captures him at his best. Morrissey crafted deceptively simple vignettes of blue-collar life ("Barstow," "Small Town on the River") and humble, everyday epiphany ("Handsome Molly") in plainspoken language with brief poetic flurries, making it all sound effortless.