Singer-songwriter Kate Gaffney's new disc 'The Coachman' features the Pennsylvania native taking her rich, vulnerable-yet-feisty vocals to places only hinted at on her previous recordings.

The album opens with the gentle 'My Word,' a delicate one-minute snippet of a song which serves as a most inviting introduction. Gaffney's plaintive feathery vocal then morphs into the next cut; the sassy country-ish head bobber 'What Kind of Man.'

'Falls Bridge' is next and the shuffling bluesy number is one of the strongest on the album. The piano driven melody is infectious and Gaffney's soulful delivery is spot on.

The funky groove of 'Before I Go' is so wonderfully crafted it threatens to overshadow Gaffney's vocal, but she works her magic and pulls it off. Fellow Dig artist Jackie Greene adds his considerable musical chops to 'The Coachman' and although Gaffney is definitely no slouch as a songwriter, the Greene-penned 'The Ballad of Sleepy John' is the best track on the disc.




Gaffney dusts off Woody Guthrie's 'Philadelphia Lawyer' and weaves the tale with folksy conviction. The title cut closes out the disc and as it clocks in at 18 plus minutes, there was a real danger of it devolving into a navel-gazing, self-indulgent snoozer, but instead it eases the listener out gracefully with a jammin' slow burn.

'The Coachman' features well-crafted songs delivered with passion and conviction by an up and coming singer/songwriter whose artistry will turn heads.