Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer take a convincing step forward on their third release, which at various times echoes the music of Robin and Linda Williams and a twangy version of Richard and Linda Thompson. Although gifted on banjo, guitar, fiddle, organ, and mandolin, the duo has placed a premium on the songwriting, with considerable payoff. "Tillman Co." details the ordinary terrors of rural working-class life, "Gentle Arms of Eden" evokes a mystical gospel vision, and "Ordinary Town" offers one of the best opening lines heard this year--"Common cool, he was a proud young fool in a kick-ass Wal-Mart tie"--and then somehow sums up the mysteries of small-town life. Now and again, the philosophical trappings can feel rather starched and pretentious, abetted in part by Carter"s penchant for faux-Shakespearean syntax and imagery--"Hail the wayward werewolf howlin" / Haints and shades and goblins growlin" is one such clumsy exertion--but the overriding musical and lyrical eloquence makes Drum Hat Buddha one of the more original Americana releases of the year. --Roy Kasten