If you pine for the high melancholy days of the Jayhawks that peaked with Sound of Lies, John Calvin will give you a taste. If you're interested in more minimalist roots fare (almost laptop americana, to tell the truth), he'll do that, too. Calvin writes songs of many colors, though in general he looks within.

John Calvin Greener Fields and Fairer Seas (Tecumseh Haines Records)

More often than not, Calvin settles into a distracted rock groove and muses. There's some pedal steel and the occasional western vocalization, but Calvin seems more interested in bringing his characters to life than articulating a clear musical vision. And while it might be argued that those characters aren't always compelling, I think that's also the point.

Once in a while everything piles together in a great squall, Muscle Shoals horns and steroid-infused riffage and all that. These songs hang together on Calvin's words, and even at his most laconic he has something intriguing to say about the scene he's spun.

No temples or grand vistas. Just ordinary people living ordinary lives until something intrudes. That description also fits the music, which does its best to avoid any easy description. A lovely set, one that rings more clearly with repeat listens. Easily relatable, and even more easy to enjoy. A ramble that finds new paths in well-worn dirt.

Jon Worley