The contemporary folk/Americana genre is a tricky one to navigate. Beyond the practical concern of making a living in a niche market, there’s also the authenticity problem to worry about: Go too far afield of tradition and you’ll get accused of artificiality, but cling too much to the sound of your musical forebears and you run the risk of being called derivative. It’s kind of a no-win situation, and the only real way for artists in the genre to handle it is to be true to themselves. Troy and Paula Haag are a husband-and-wife duo who walk that tightrope better than most, with a bare-boned approach that places the emphasis on Troy’s delicate acoustic guitar and everyman vocals, Paula’s harmonies and subtle percussion, and the couple’s plaintive songs of love, devotion and discord...laying bare their...gift for unfussy melodies that are just plain pretty...common folk that’s uncommonly good. Ken Bays