On her fourth album, Katie Dahl remains an evocative chronicler of vignettes. As with her previous efforts, Wildwood bears the mark of her Door County surroundings without making her folk songs so specific that listeners outside the peninsula can’t relate to them. Though something of a mixed outing for its inclusion of a couple songs from her forthcoming second musical play, The Fisherman’s Daughters, the thematic unity threading through the album’s 11 selections is thoughtful gentleness to neighbors, nature, a mentor or a husband.
Dahl’s warm alto conveys contentedness throughout a collection that maintains a slow to medium tempo without ever dragging. Wisps of steel guitar, banjo and percussion accent her own six strings, but all serve her often impressionistic musical stories. Dahl has represented Wisconsin folk close as Chicago and far away as Mali. Wildwood is another testament to the state’s reputation being in good musical hands.
