Bett Padgett
Album: All The Tears In The World
Label: Ceilidhe's Music
Tracks: 15
Website: http://www.bettpadgett.com

"Songs of hope and courage" is the byline-cum-subtitle of this intensely personal new (seventh) collection from Bett, a North Carolina-based songwriter who writes naturally in an accessible and unchallenging musical language. Bett's no self-absorbed angst-ridden navel-gazer; instead I'd characterise her as being of the old school, in that she conveys insights into everyday circumstances and realities, approaching and interpreting them with optimism, bringing strength and wisdom to life's struggles and leading the listener to a better, and more hopeful, understanding of his/her own situation. Musical settings are simple too, where an intelligent use of partial capos and alternate and open tunings gives a bigger sound with little instrumentation.

Attitude and hope are the key to Bett's life-philosophy. One Breath At A Time encourages us all to seek the inner strength within us. Life By The Inch was written ostensibly for children but can be taken as of greater and entirely universal application, while The Granny Nanny is one of those whimsical children's songs that's just as much fun for grownups. The desirable thesis of "one religion" that has confounded mankind from time immemorial is thoughtfully posited on What If?, while Why Don't I?'s acutely observed study of clinical depression is set against shifting-sand snares and queasy chord progressions. The lilting melody of the title song initially recalls Nights In White Satin, and its pendulum sway rather suits its sentiment of "the more we love, the more it hurts".

Welcome Back Summer is a gentle hope-tinged lament for the eternal lack of available time to enjoy the season, whereas Summertime In The South, described as a song for anyone that has had a deceitful "friend", presents deceptively benign moods of nature as an analogy for unpredictable, changeable and in the end untrustworthy behaviour. Bett's stance on this last-mentioned song is seen to cohere with her dreamy, drifting (and individual) interpretation of the traditional ballad House Carpenter, one of two non-originals on the disc (the other is Wayfaring Stranger, which, though evidently a favourite song of Bett's, doesn't quite fit in here).

Bett's songs are charming, and genuinely helpful and uplifting, and although they may on occasion border on simplistic homily, they invariably exude positive energy. The mild drawback of this is that it can give rise to intermittent touches of tweeness in the writing, but generally these are easy to cope with and only on Do You Believe? (Song For Alex) does the sentiment become just too cloying for comfort. That is, however, an exception to the rule on what is a satisfying, honest and tasteful expression of faith and the virtues of maintaining a positive attitude.

David Kidman