Album Notes

Unfortunately, there are no Rose and Blows CDs left.

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Rose and Blows are Kim Novak and Duane Tate. Here's what Milo Black had to say about "Long Road Home":

You know how it is with supergroups? When established and successful musicians choose to join forces, the result is often disappointing. Not so with Rose and Blows.

Kim Novak and Duane Tate have both worked with acoustic folk music for long enough to know the forms and conventions inside-out - and it shows, in that these songs are all impeccably performed, with Kim's rich and soaring tones as the cream and sugar against Duane's dark brew of a voice. Instrumentation is acoustic throughout, and the recording and production is pristine and flawless.

But this kind of folk duo lives or dies on two things - chemistry between the performers, and song-power. With Rose and Blows, you can hear how much these two musicians love what they're doing. Egos are put to one side, with lead vocals, backup duties, songwriting and instrumental work being split between them. And the songs fly. "Black is the Color" (a traditional Celtic song) fits perfectly with the originals, with its melancholy themes of love and longing.

Highlights? As personal choices, the layered vocal harmonies on Our Love Don't Get it, and the pain and sadness in Duane's lyric and Kim's voice on Long Road Home both give me goosebumps. But choosing highlights gives a false impression - this is the rarest and most elusive of beasts, an album with no "filler". There is, quite simply, not a bad note on it, and at no point did I find myself reaching for the "track skip" button, in the hope that the next song would be better.

There is something here for just about anyone - if you like acoustic music, terrific songwriting, great singing, or you've ever been in love, I guarantee that there is something here that will touch you.