Ten (10)

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Artist: Kate Rusby

There was a delicious moment at the 1999 Mercury Music Prize when Kate Rusby finished singing "Our Town," put down a guitar almost as big as she is, and went to receive her award for Sleepless as one of the 12 Best British Albums of the Year. She briefly surveyed the mass of music industry high flyers, all suited and booted for the occasion at one of London's swankiest hotels applauding her richly, and addressed them in that glorious Barnsley accent..."I'm dead proud to be a folk singer, me..."

Hitting the racks on January seventh of 2003, courtesy of the good folks at Compass Records, Ten is a fascinating item in the growing Kate Rusby discography. Rather than simply cobble together existing tracks, Ten shines a new light on the Rusby songbook. By presenting powerful new recordings of popular and personal favorites – in most cases noticeably reworked and stunningly reinvented – alongside rare, live, and new songs, Rusby has crafted an album that perfectly documents both her illustrious past and ongoing musical refinement.

"I love singing songs like ‘The Recruited Collier’," she says, "but because I have to constantly change repertoire I don't get a chance to sing them any more. Some of them were never on my own albums so a lot of people may not have heard them. It wasn't a case of finding a different way of doing them, more how we'd do them now." Joining Kate in the festivities are such familiar luminaries as guitarist Ian Carr, accordion ace Andy Cutting, Shooglenifty bassist Conrad Ivitsky, American banjo virtuoso Alison Brown, flautist Michael McGoldrick, and the late Davy Steele on vocals. McCusker keeps proceedings in line with a fair hand and a flair for subtle, intertwining arrangements. The result is a an album existing somewhere between reflection and progression, a snapshot of an artist comfortable with her past but eager to move forward. "I don't really have long term plans apart from continuing to make the music we want to for as long as we can. You never know what's going to happen so you just have to work hard and be good to people and hope life treats you well. So far it mostly has and I really do believe I've been so lucky."

Catalogue: COM4350

Sku: 2029628