The first I knew of this album was hearing a bit of it in Collector's Corner - I'd thought that Veirs' only releases were Troubled By The Fire and Carbon Glacier and so was surprised to hear some unfamiliar, very Veirs-sounding music playing as I walked in the door. Of course, I asked about it on my way out (by that point, it'd ended and the record store kids had put on Scout Niblett), and it turns out that Orphan Mae was first released in 2001, and originally only available at Veirs' shows - but has now, in the wake of her relative popularity, been re-released by Bella Union (a label which seems to be doing increasingly well for itself, incidentally). So of course I bought it.
As to Orphan Mae, well, there's a definite continuity with her two later full-lengths - like them, it houses Veirs' distinctive, contemporarily-informed take on the country-blues-folk tradition, and it has the same gently rolling melodies and the same sense of space and wide-eyed wonder. It's more unadorned and somewhat rootsier than either Troubled By The Fire or Carbon Glacier (the simplicity of the record is rather winsome, even though it's a less 'mature' sound) but the overall aesthetic is very similar; indeed, although it shows Veirs 'in progress', so to speak, I think that Orphan Mae is just as good as what was to come...now it's a matter of waiting for the next one.
