Fairport Convention has gone through so many personnel changes over the years that it"s more of a state of mind than a band. On 2000"s The Wood & the Wire, which features the group"s 23rd incarnation, longtime members Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg join 15-year veteran Ric Sanders, relative newcomer Chris Leslie, and old-pro folk-rock drummer Gerry Conway. The sound leans more to the folk side of the folk-rock equation and includes plenty of fiddles, mandolins, and acoustic guitars, with an occasional electric guitar solo thrown in to remind us of the rock side. Most of the songs here were composed by Leslie, and while they don"t rise to the level of those of former Fairport songwriters Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson (but then again, whose songs do?), tunes like "The Dancer" and "Banbury Fair" do have a bucolic charm. The Wood & the Wire is the work of a band that is happy with its place in the world and is content to make music that evokes the past without wallowing in nostalgia. --Michael Simmons