Singer/songwriter Erin Hobson plays a heady mix of jazz, funk, and folk with an enticing pop sensibility. A Rhinebeck native, she started playing at age 11 and eventually began jamming in bars with her guitar teacher at 14. After a seven-year stay in LA, she got the itch and fled  for her hometown area, where she's playing clubs and cafes, quietly building a fan base the old-fashioned way, one person at a time.

Far From Home was produced by Chris Cubeta and recorded in Poughkeepsie. Here Hobson's honest, revealing lyrics light up "Never Knew Me," in which a melodic, slinky slide line  makes for a gorgeous hook. An impressive guitar ride pushes the moody "Dreaming in Bleu," while Hobson's emotional delivery digs deep in "Lust," a luxurious, rainy afternoon love fest you can only dream you were part of. Hobson herself is without an ounce of pretense, but the music is deceptively powerful and full of grace and gravity. For more information, visit www.erinhobson.com.

Peter Blum realizes a dream on his latest double CD release, Singing Bowls and One. The Himalayan singing bowl is a relatively new instrument to the West, and on his third major release featuring the bowls, Blum explores new sonic territory. He's been performing and recording with bowls for several years now, with a focus on sounds for healing.

Each track on this recording offers something interesting and unusual, and the music is free form and relaxing with a sense of  drifting effervescence. The tracks feature Blum's large selection of bowls played with a spontaneous creative openness, which sets the direction and tone for tandem performances of unique musical moments. An extensive list of collaborators includes highly skilled performers from various musical backgrounds: Karl Berger (vibes), David Budd (frame drum), Robert Esformes (voice), Montino Bourbon (dotara), Jayna Nelson (flute and piccolo), Steve Gorn (bansurai flute), Nazz Hosseini (violin and voice), Joe McPhee (sax and flugelhorn), Pauline Oliveros (accordion), Tom Schmidt ('ngouni and bass), Nancy Rullo and Ingrid Sertso (voice and text). Tracks on the first CD, "Inside," have a more melodic, rhythmic structure, whereas those on "Outside" are just that—more outside the box. To order, visit www.soundsforhealing.com.

When Leonard Cohen released Ten New Songs in 2001, it seemed a swansong, a last intimate Saturday night before dying. So, when Dear Heather opens with a crooning tune of Lord Byron's set to sax and soul vocals, it's a surprise, a weird dawn.  What seems more appropriate is listening fresh, for that is when Dear Heather really ripens. The quality of the voice—not the singing, but the sounding—goes beyond the individual tracks. There is a presence behind this voice, and the words are intoned, not warbled.

And there are poems here, too, disguised as songs, most notably "Because of," where Leonard lays it all out: "Because of a few songs / Wherein I spoke of their mystery, / Women have been / Exceptionally kind / to my old age. / They make a secret place / In their busy lives / And they take me there. / They become naked / In their different ways / and they say, "Look at me Leonard / Look at me one last time." / Then they bend over the bed / And cover me up / Like a baby that is shivering."

Perhaps that's Dear Heather's function —to get the gloomy, cool cats reading poetry again.