First things first: "A Storm Is Coming" sounds lovely. The singing  
and playing are full of relaxed confidence, a gentle sway that draws  
the listener in. It's tinged with country, spiced with a little  
blues, and centered around a rhythmic kind of small-group folk-rock  
that never stops leaning forward. You could lie in a hammock and  
listen to this all night.

Then phrases from the lyrics seep into your consciousness: "It's just  
business, he said, as he smiled so seriously ..." (to a tune that  
puts a smile on your face). And: "Mrs Jones, we regret that your son  
has been killed in the war ..." Or: "I remember a time when a tousled  
haired child went walking with old Father Time ..." As the words sink  
in, you start to understand that this is seriously adult music, made  
by people who have lived, and learned to accept their lives as they  
really are, not just as they wish they were. It's not exactly  
political, it's just real. Even the joyful "Out on the Town Again"  
includes the wry commentary: "So now I've cast my hook and all I  
see, / Are glimpses of my insecurity. / I never want to feel this way  
again; / I never want to feel the same."

Tim and Laura have spent years singing silly for kids -- but kids are  
a tough audience, and the kids certainly knew (even if they didn't  
know they knew) that the Battersby Duo could be silly about lost  
socks and elephants' toenail pizza precisely because their hearts  
were always in the right place. They always encouraged children to  
read and learn and appreciate the world around them. Now, under the  
name Cross Creek (just so no one gets confused), they are singing for  
the parents, and for themselves.

Will this recording change the world? I doubt it, and I don’t think  
it's really meant to. It’s just part of the world, and the world is  
better for that.
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The songs on "A Storm is Coming," the new CD from The Battersby Duo, are so gently, sweetly thought-provoking. 

There’s a certain wonderful homely American quality..... just a little melancholy (except for that Magical Youth, which is heart-wrenching), which is just the thing for us folks who’ve learned a thing or two about navigating those crocodile-infested waters of life. But by no means resigned to it !

We’re still able to enjoy going Out on the Town and dancing wickedly close in smoky bluesy barrooms. Fantasy, perhaps. Or not... who knows. And though we may be defiantly set in our ways like the Old Man and his southern comfort, we can still learn and adapt and we hope other folks can as well. 

The 12 songs on "A Storm is Coming" are blisteringly sincere and come straight from the heart. I love the album.
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