On Kathy’s latest album, released in December 1999, she shares billing with her band. That group, called DaHouse Band after the studio where the album was recorded, features Eddie Gwaltney on many different instruments and backing vocals and Jo Whitaker on drums. (Jo was also the engineer for the record.) Kathy sings lead on all the songs and plays rhythm guitar and piano. The idea behind the new album and its 12 original songs was to get a simpler sound, one more rooted in the rhythm section of a pop band than, as on Kathy’s earlier work, the sound of piano vocals. “These songs were built from the bass and drums up, rather than from the vocals down,” Kathy says, “and, as the recording of the album went along, it became clear that Jo and Eddie should get credit for what we were doing.” “The Long Refrain” is also more secular than Kathy’s previous work, although this is not to say that the songs do not have a spiritual element. The songs cover an emotional landscape from love songs (happy, sad and strange) to stories about friends and family, including along the way, a song about a vanished railroad and the pleasures of riding in red cars. The title song is a tribute to all singers who take the risks necessary to make their songs and to have their songs heard.