MARK OLSON & THE CREEKDIPPERS : DECEMBER'S CHILD

1. How Can I Send Tonight (There to Tell You)
2. Still We Have a Friend in You
3. Alta's Song
4. Back to the Old Homeplace
5. December's Child
6. Nerstrand Woods
7. Cactus Wren
8. Climb These Steps (We Will)
9. How Can This Be
10. Say You'll Be Mine
11. One Eyed Black Dog Moses

Label : Glitterhouse Records

Time : 44:23

Release Year : 2002

Review (AllMusic) : Life in the desert with wife Victoria Williams certainly has focused Mark Olson's eye for lyrical detail. Whether singing about around-the-clock meth labs or newspaper roses sold by the side of the road, he creates fully realized worlds within each song on December's Child. The lo-fi folk vibe of the earlier self-released Creekdippers recordings and 2000's My Own Jo Ellen remains, and Olson again shares credit for the album with the Creekdippers. But the electricity and amplification have been turned up a bit, too - rather than deliberately eschewed as he seemed to prefer after first going relatively solo. If Williams is less of a vocal presence (except for trading verses on the raucous closer, "One Eyed Black Dog Moses"), she lets her funky wah-wah banjo fill any resulting gap. What may surprise many fans is that Olson is joined on one song by his former Jayhawks partner Gary Louris, though the co-written "Say You'll Be Mine" is considerably looser than their previous work together. That it's no less ramshackle than the rest of this worthwhile album is a testament to an endearing minimalist approach that allows Olson to refine his singing and songwriting talents rather than bother himself with fussy production concerns.