On reading back my own track-by-track review notes of this CD I found the words ‘attractive’ and ‘pleasant’ occurring again and again. Unquestionably, Dan Evans is one of this country’s most accomplished performers of both acoustic guitar and dulcimer. He also has a fine voice and, as this 15 track CD demonstrates, is a skilled songwriter and arranger.

The album is a good mixture of song and instrumentals, traditional and contemporary. It benefits from an impressive array of accompanying musicians including classical guitarist Martin Vishnick, whose work is to the fore on Dan’s self-penned ‘The Seed is Sown’. Roger Nicholson, another fine exponent of the dulcimer, duets with Dan on some of their own arrangements of traditional tunes.

Self-penned songs such as ‘Forever’ and ‘Me And You’ demonstrate both Dan’s song writing talents and his pre-occupation with love songs. The later is one of a number of tracks to feature the haunting harmonies of Elaine Samuels. ‘The Journey’, one of his own instrumental compositions, fully demonstrates Dan’s outstanding guitar playing talent.

The are some highly individual arrangements of well known songs, including Bill Caddick’s lovely song ‘Unicorns’ and, unusually and unexpectedly, the Paul Anka / Buddy Holly song ‘It Doesn’t Matter Any More’.

Well thought out, highly polished and attractively packaged, this CD deserves a wide audience.