One of my wife Judy’s favorite songs:

Jazz singer Janice Borla often refers to herself as a “vocal instrumentalist.” To help understand why, listen to this John Coltrane song included on her 1996 album Lunar Octave.

A live version of the title track of singer-songwriter Eileen Jewel’s 2009 CD. You might not want to listen to this CD when you’re down or depressed. I think all of the songs are as melancholy as this one.

Child TV actress (Still Standing) Renee Olsted was only 15 when when her first official CD (self-titled) was released. The album is filled with standards, but there is a reason why standards and standards, and she sings them extremely well.

From this Austin-based jazz singer’s 2012 album Way Down Low, funded by a Kickstarter campaign:

From this Portland OR based folk- and blues-singer 2011 CD Rose City Ramble:

Holly Golightly is a British singer-songwriter named after the character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Stylistically her music sounds to me as best described as garage rock with more than a hint of folk-blues. Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs is a group that consists of her musical partner Laywer Dave and herself.

This is the title track of their 2011 CD:

Loudon Wainwright III is on tour. I have a weakness for comedy folk singers:

A track from The Rose of San Joaquin, this country-western singer’s 1995 CD on Hightone:

From this singer-songwriter’s 1994 CD on Rounder Records, Between the Eclipse:

The river, like some silver finger, tumbles to the sea.
The pines that pierce the far horizon seem to beckon me;
They draw me to another town, another brand new day,
They draw me to my dreams of home, a half a world away.

I think back on the days before our love grew rifts and cracks,
In the heat of pride’s confusion, we turned our hearts and backs.
Lying in the still of night, without a word to say,
Two hearts beating side-by-side, a half a world away.

[bridge]

I’ve seen you in a thousand glances, I’ve heard a hundred lies;
I’ve walked the wire, proudly wearing bravery’s disguise.
But alone upon my knees tonight, for constancy I pray.
I reach out in the dark for you, a half a world away.

A full moon mounts a crystal sky, as I cross another border;
Informed, inspected, stamped, exchanged – my life in perfect order,
For I’ve mapped my course, and now I know my heart is home to stay.
I’ll hold you in my arms tonight, a half a world away.