Kieran Kane & Kevin Welch with Fats Kaplin - You Can't Save Everybody

When you put together two incredible songwriters, you just can't help but emerge with some songs that are really worth listening to. You throw in some pretty awesome performing talent, and you find yourself with an album that's as spectacular as "You Can't Save Everybody." These American boys have come out huge in Australia, where their 2000 release, "Live in Melbourne," blew audiences away. Their newest studio release will, likewise, knock your socks off.

The opening track of this disc, "You Can't Save Everybody," written by Kane and Sean Locke, begins what could very easily be one of the finest albums ever recorded, certainly one of the finest of 2004. Not that very many people have gotten a chance to hear it the mainstream has somehow missed this one, and deprived the public of what are truly some amazing, deeply moving, and exquisite songs. When listening to the writers' own magnificent rendition of "'Til I'm Too Old To Die Young," there is a stark simplicity that's somehow missing from the Moe Bandy version.

The amazing lyrics are elegantly showcased by plain, stripped-down music, outstanding Americana at its most basic, straight to the roots. It effortlessly lowers the barriers between folk and country; plain instruments played well, songs sung from the heart by rough- hewn voices to make a sound which is passionate, beautiful, and absolutely true.

The folks "down under" know Kane & Welch. It's high time America got past the boundaries set by corporate radio and found them, too. This is the kind of music that breaks down preconceptions and rattles foundations. How can there be another Bob Dylan if no one is permitted to listen?