Welcome back sunshine! So beautiful. Sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch, enjoying our morning cups of coffee, Joe and I had a few minutes of quiet, welcoming in this gorgeous sunny Sunday together. Watching the petals from the weeping cherry trees flutter to the ground like snowflakes, listening to the chickens cluck in their pen (they, too, are happy to see the sun), taking in the rich green of the grass-which will soon, very soon, need to be mowed, watching the stunning male bluebird catch the grubs and fly back into the tree to enjoy his breakfast. Oh, yeah! Spring in the mountains of western North Carolina. Loving it.

Haven CD

Here’s a little taste of what you’ll hear on Haven:

Working with Nashville producer/guitarist Thomm Jutz [Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier], and a core group of Music City’s finest players (including Griffith drummer Pat McInerney and longtime Ricky Skaggs bassist Mark Fain), Lynn hits a deeply traditional vein only hinted at on her two previous critically acclaimed releases, 2005′s Frisky Or Fair and The Weary Wake Up from 2007.

Built on a sturdy Appalachian foundation and soaked in the blues, Lynn’s evocative singing voice, which has drawn comparisons to everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Peggy Lee, is the driving force and centerpiece of Haven. Her interpretation of “I’ll Fly Away” transforms that gospel classic into a stirring, minor-key lament, and Lynn performs similar magic on the album’s closing song, a bare-bones take on the traditional Irish hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” But, from “Rush Of The Fall,” a poignant waltz-time ode to the loneliness of the road, to the banjo-driven, back-and-forth struggle of “Pulling Of Tides,” it’s her own soul-penetrating songs that carry the day.

Rarely has time-tested tradition sounded so utterly fresh and contemporary. Whether she’s displaying those banjo-and-Piedmont guitar chops on the playful “Lazy Day,” or letting the band’s sultry groove carry her away on “Chicken Bone,” every song on Haven provides brilliant musical proof that Eliza Lynn is an artist who’s time has come.

I’m so proud of this piece of art!

I can’t wait for you to hear it!

With peace and the gratitude of my heart,