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MARK OLSON The Salvation Blues Hacktone Records ***

In order to create great art or even just a good album, an artist has to sometimes walk over the hot coals of life's merry ways.

But tears, no matter how copious or real, are no guarantee of attaining greatness - you have to write the songs as well.

Former Jayhawk Mark Olson, by his own admission, was on a fast train to despair after the breakup of his relationship with the endearingly oddball singer-songwriter Victoria Williams.

He moved to Wales, where he bottomed out and began to write again.

Olson pulled together a top-notch band (Tony Gilkyson's guitar playing is a joy) and proceeded to fast-track his rehabilitation with this good set that grows on you.

There is a degree of meandering lyricism, and Olson doesn't exactly spare the emotion, but his songs and his distinctive delivery were pillars of Jayhawk albums, and they are only marginally less impressive here. www.hacktone.com-  JOE BREEN

Download tracks: My Carol, Clifton Bridge, Sandy Denny