God, you’ve got to love Joe Goldmark. A pedal steel player who is willing to tackle pretty much any style of music, and not only tackle it, but do a bang-up job on the song. If you don’t believe me, do you know a lot of steel players who cover Elvis Costello’s “Peace, Love, and Understanding?” Joe handles it with some (for lack of a better word) “dreamy” steel work that propels the melody. I confess, I’m no expert on steel playing, but I’ve heard very few players tackle Blind Faith’s “Presence of the Lord.” Interesting song choice. Nice steel, and nice guitar from Garth Webber. There are lots of originals on the CD too. The melodic and very pop-like “Joe’s Jump” does just what the title says, jumps. His “Butane” is a boogie that lets him show off his chops a bit. And, on “Okra Dokey,” it’s kind of like New Orleans goes pop.

Joe shines on most every cut, and there are also some great guitar turns here. Jim Campilongo helps out on the slightly off-kilter “Going Up the River,” and Larry Dunn, Andy Reiss, Gary Potterton, and Webber all shine on various cuts.

If you like steel guitar, or things just a little off-the-beaten path, this is for you.