Songs and Stories

Personnel: Guy Clark (vocals, guitar); Shawn Camp (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Verlon Thompson (vocals, guitar); Bryn Davies (upright bass); Kenny Malone (percussion).Audio Mixer: Chris Latham.Recording information: Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN.Photographer: David McClister.Guy Clark is a superlative songwriter, a fine and thoughtful vocalist, and a compelling live performer, so it's a bit surprising that he hasn't released more live recordings, which would allow him to show off these three talents to their best advantage. Songs and Stories is only the second live album of Clark's career, coming 14 years after 1997's excellent Keepers, and there are some telling similarities between the two albums. Guitarist Verlon Thompson is still the anchor of Clark's acoustic band, Kenny Malone is still playing percussion, and both sets begin with the song "L.A. Freeway" from the earlier live collection. Songs and Stories is dominated by hardy perennials from Clark's songbook such as "Dublin Blue