There was a time, sixty or more years ago, when many listeners would be hard put to distinguish between country and western music and folk music, at least in a North American context. Popular performers like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers were well known for performing both country music and folk music, with little distinction between the two styles. These and other landmark artists remain influential in both folk and country music. To this day, the line that distinguishes folk from country in American music is obscure at best.

Based on liner notes and publicity materials, Lorraine McDonald clearly considers herself a folk singer and writer of contemporary folk songs. In some ways, she is correct. When I listen to the songs on this release, I hear something quite different. Here is an interesting selection of country music in styles ranging across America from the eastern mountains through the south and southeast to California western music. When I hear Lorraine McDonald, I hear an interesting and entertaining country singer.

McDonald has an intriguing voice, hard to describe. Think of Dolly Parton some forty years ago, when her voice often had the sound of a small girl or of a very young woman. Now, forget what Parton's voice has become and imagine that young woman of long ago. Imagine her voice aged and matured, fifty-plus but still soft and somehow young. This is the voice of Lorraine McDonald, a voice perfectly suited to the songs she sings.

Nine of the songs on this release were written by McDonald. Set against the five songs she has included from some of the finest songwriters of the past fifty years, her songs stand up very well. She writes simple country melodies and straightforward lyrics that tell stories with a universal appeal. Producer Paul Mills has shown the good sense to keep the arrangements simple and allow the music and words to hold their own. The result is a comfortable set of uncluttered songs that feel somehow familiar.

"Harvest Moon Night" (written by Beau Haddock, not McDonald) is perhaps the least "country" of the songs on this CD, yet it's not really "folk" either in the traditional sense. In many respects, it reminds me of the early work of Janis Ian. Here is the same sense of loss and sorrow in the lyric, the same restrained melodic line, even the same vocal approach to the subject matter. In fact, on this song, McDonald changes her vocal style and sounds strikingly like Ian. This is a beautiful song.

McDonald songs like "Lydia" and "Wilhemina" follow more in the tradition of writers like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, or Lynn Anderson, telling simple stories of ordinary people with empathy and interest. Most of her other songs also follow in the country music tradition of story-telling, featuring a revered family quilt, a "Thelma and Louise" style road trip, the simple love of a wife for her working man, and the restrictions a band of kids can place on one's life, among other tales.

With a guitar intro that sounds more like Merle Haggard than author John Prine, "Speed of the Sound" is pure country. Like most of the other songs on this release, the sound is not contemporary and harks back to the Sixties but with a sense of timelessness. This is country music that will never go quite out of style. "Speed of the Sound" is not just the most country of these songs but also one of the two or three best performed on this release.

The final track comes as a surpise. "You Are My Sunshine" is sung not by McDonald but by her father, Ted McDonald, with her providing backup and harmonies. The delivery of both music and vocals is simple and traditional and the voices sound old in a positive comfortable way. It's a lovely way to end a set of comfortable country songs.

Lorraine McDonald may quite correctly perceive herself as a folk musician but, within that category, her writing and her performance is pure country. I can imagine her voice on country songs ranging from "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" though "I'm Not Lisa" and Parton's "I Will Always Love You." This is music made for radio. It should be getting a lot of play in the morning and evening drive times. Those who enjoy well-written folk or country music performed well, will enjoy hearing this set.