Elizabeth Mitchell is a smidge less locked into the no-frills folkie formula on You Are My Sunshine than on her debut, You Are My Flower. In fact, if you subtract the A-list collaborators (and, OK, the dulcimers, mandolins, and human beat boxes), Mitchell starts to look a lot like the female Dan Zanes. The same rootsy sensibility rules both artists’ recordings, as does a reverence for tried-and-true folk tunes ("Good Night Irene," "Skip to My Lou") and clean production. More significantly, slivers of Zane-like adventurousness shine through here: "Alphabet Dub" set the ABCs to a reggae beat; "Hey Bo Diddley" tips its hat to the rock & roll pioneer; and the kids are called in to spice up "Crawdad." Counting kids' artists who are genuinely cool still requires fewer than 10 fingers, but with Flower and Sunshine, Mitchell proves she's among the elite. --Tammy La Gorce
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