By L. Kent Wolgamott | Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln’s troubadour Orion Walsh is back in town after a month on the road that took him from South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, to California, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. He’s marking his return with the release of “Rambling Heart,” a 20-track compilation that brings together the “best of” from his four albums with two new songs -- the title cut, a languid harmonica-drenched ballad of a stolen heart and “Enola Gay,” a haunting finger-picked guitar narrative about the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima that flew out of Omaha. Those songs, to a large degree, encapsulate Walsh’s music -- finely written, folk-rooted songs, personal, topical and historical delivered with a heartfelt vocal smoothness. They’re also very well arranged and produced, with a rich, lush backing of strings and even horns where appropriate and stripped down when that’s right for the song. All of Walsh’s releases, which began with 2008’s “Tornado Lullabies” have been quite good. So it's no shock that “Rambling Heart” connects from start to finish. What is a bit surprising, in contrast to most compilations, is how cohesive the album is. That feel starts with the opening track, “Legend of Young Billy,” a clattering classic outlaw tale that slips into the banjo-based “Water Into Fire,” a meditation on right and wrong, new technology and rising souls. Then comes “Green Paper Black Lines,” a rebel rejection of marriage, education and all other predetermined paths that comes right out of the classic folk tradition. The three songs come from three different albums, but somehow belong together. That holds true for the rest of “Rambling Heart,” which mixes the acoustic blues of “Transient Blues” with the country of “Good Things Come to Those Who Wait,” the topicality of the protest “Gulf of Mexico,” the swinging ramble of “On Down the Road” and the kazoo (I think) and horns of “Wastin’ Time.” Walsh is working hard next week, playing four Lincoln and Omaha shows. He’ll be at the Zoo Bar Tuesday, Omaha’s Barley Street Tavern Thursday, at Duffy’s Tavern on April 19 and at Crescent Moon Coffee on April 20. The Barley Street and Duffy’s shows are the official CD release affairs. But Walsh will have copies of “Rambling Heart” at all four shows. Go to one of the shows and buy one. It’s worth every penny. Grade: A