Spirit Rain

On Spirit Rain, Bill Miller's 11th album, the Mohican-German singer-songwriter pulls together various pieces to provide a solid overview of who he is and what he's capable of. Miller's themes of spirituality reveal the mind of a deep thinker, but he also covers more earthly issues such as family, the environment, and love. His most telling moment comes on a rough-and-tumble blues tune called "Face the Blues." Here, the 47-year-old Miller (who's had some rough patches in his life) starkly sums up his philosophy--it's better to take life's lumps than to walk away from them. Mostly backed by a small band of friends, Miller's yearning voice and folksy acoustic guitar bring these stories to life. It's his well-crafted songwriting, however, which incorporates folk, blues, rock, and traditional Native American music in various degrees, that makes each of the 14 songs stand on their own, even as they combine to give the album a cohesive identity. This is a fine follow-up to 1999's award-winning Ghostdance. --Tad Hendrickson