Review

Mountain Stage: Folk Live contains highlights from the weekly radio show, this time concentrating on performers who fall into a loose definition of folk. That means there are not only folk singer-songwriters like Iris DeMent, but country-rockers like Steve Earle and country groups like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The eclecticism works in the compilation's favor, since it makes the record rich with variety and musical quality. For anyone looking for a succinct primer on contemporary '90s folk in all of its permutations, you could do much worse than Mountain Stage: Folk Live.