Lighting the way

On first listen, Carrie Newcomer's album sounds like any other alt-country album I've heard. It's that second listen where you force yourself to appreciate it that its beauty stands out.\nNewcomer blurs a line between country and folk music with a noble grace. Her all-Americana voice makes her sound like a female version of Lyle Lovett, and the guitar playing evokes a happy-go-lucky Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters -- a strange combination if you're familiar with their work. \nTo say some of her songs are just standouts is almost insulting. "Biscuits and Butter" seems like a victim of Nashville production yet somehow sounds better than anything Nashville has put out lately. Listening to it makes me want to drop out of school and move to Montana to build a cabin, and I don't even know how. "One Woman and a Shovel" is a great cruising song for any winding road trip.\nThe album doesn't have any real low points either. The only oddity is the bonus Luddite track "Don't Push Send" that sounds as if Newcomer is trying to replicate Michael Buble with a swing style, but it just feels a little out of place on this album.\n"Geodes" is by far the best track on the album. The piano is beautiful, and the guitar creates the impression of a harp. The song talks about the splendor of geodes and how they are placed in gardens where she lives, something that I, as a homegrown Indiana Hoosier like Newcomer, can understand. Every house in my neighborhood had a geode, including mine. Listening to this song brings me back to childhood and exploring my own sidewalk for discoveries.\nThe Geography of Light is definitely worth the money, especially if you account for the fact that she donates proceeds to charities she supports. So do yourself a favor, and support a local Hoosier deserving of the title of "Mellencamp's heir"