Drops In A Bucket

Album Review

Remember being six years old and walking barefoot through the back yard? Or the visit to that small town Fourth of July Parade with your grandpa? And then there was the time the kids set up a lemonade stand on the corner and jumped ten feet high when someone gave them a shiny new quarter and told them to keep the change. Those were the days, you always tell yourself. Somehow, Nancy Hanson has set those days to music with a laid-back beat and lyrics that put those simple pleasures back in focus. Hanson's voice is silk, and her guitar work shines. The album has a distinct folk feel with some boot-scootin' country tossed in ("Don't Know What It Is," "Love Ain't about That"). "Corner of My Dreams" might sum up the tone of the entire album: a child doesn't want his mom to wake him up because he's dreaming about all the fun he's going to have in coming years. "I'm taking my time riding on a moonbeam," he says. The album also discusses the simple complexities of love. "Reel You In," "Dish It Up," and "Matter of Time" all explore yearnings for that one companion with a fresh confidence. Hanson gets whatever she sets her heart on. When you put this album in the CD changer, it's time to sit on the front porch and race the clouds. It's a road trip for the weary white-collar worker, a weekend in the sun when it's been thundering overhead, a savory slice of the glory days.