The greatest, purest album ever made is my discussion here. It starts with a tour of the US west coast. The artists on tour were a married couple, Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart. Ever heard of them? Anyway, the duo were performing at a venue in Santa Monica, CA (McCabes) and there was an opening act, based out of LA at the time. Some of you might have figured out that the headlining couple was myself and my better half. The LA-based act was a male/female pairing, as well. We watched them perform, noticing the strength of their onstage skills. He played acoustic guitar and sang. She sang. Both were noticeably very confident, mannerisms and eye-contact with audience being top notch. We would have folks open for us all over North America and abroad, sometimes the opener being ourselves. After they left the stage we came in and did our show, one of a polished Folk/Americana duo that toured constantly and made sure guitar parts were well-crafted, harmonies were tight, storytelling was timely. We had some talent, but, I always credited our skill set to work ethic colliding with heavy touring. At the end of the evening it was time to leave in our vehicle and make an hour drive to a hotel. That would cut the drive down the next day, and do so while being “keyed up”. The opening act couple came to say goodbye as we were leaving the building. They were very nice and complimentary, but, we were overjoyed to say how much we truly admired their performance, something we meant. They handed us a CD and we accepted it. Once inside the vehicle, with an hour to drive into the night air, we would put the CD into our car’s player. With no need to use our voices anymore we would drive through the quiet darkness and listen. Usually, a CD handed to us made it to a couple of songs before the need for peace kicked in, and the record would have to be stopped. In this case, track after track played. There was no talking between the songs. After 12 tracks were completed, with absolutely no comments from the two of us, we pulled the disc out. A couple of silent minutes went by, only the highway sounds of rubber on the road and engine running. Then, we looked at one another and agreed that we had just heard one of the best albums ever made. It was stunning. The duo act on the CD were, in fact, a band. But, they pared down to the two principal writers/singers for the opening set. We were awestruck at the perfection of the entire album. The songs were great. The vocals were great, with two stellar singers. The instrumentation choices were perfect and the mix was flawless. Every bass guitar line, all backing vocals, every guitar part, whatever-it was without a weak moment. How were they opening for us? How were they not a household name? By the next day, we had listened straight through a few more times. We could not believe what we had heard and to this day, years later, we each listen to it regularly. Always straight through. Within weeks of my introduction to the CD I was citing it as THE best album I had ever heard. I still say it and I feel like I am grandstanding when I utter the words. Let me be clear: it is the BEST ALBUM EVER MADE. I am convinced of it. Me and Stacey agree that Annie Lennox’ BARE is flawless. PET SOUNDS by The Beach Boys is tremendous. Beatle albums, on and on, Willie Nelson’s RED HEADED STRANGER, …..all great. But, number one is from 2009, made by Bianca Caruso, Lee Ferris, John Classick, Christopher Allis, David Bowick and a few other contributors. The band is Freddy & Francine. The album is The Briar Patch. I am so thrilled to have met Bianca and Lee in Santa Monica, two tremendous talents. They should be very proud-no one has made a superior album to THE BRIAR PATCH. Stacey