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Oakley Hall enjoys the luxury of having more than one lead singer, Rachel Cox the most interesting of them. Her chorus of "Oh, why's" on "Living in Sin in the U.S.A." is alone worth the price of admission here as her earthbound-angel tones reach for heaven's relief with each aching repetition. The song is done in a style that will be familiar to fans of Richard and Linda Thompson as is Oakley Hall's take on the traditional "House Carpenter," also sung by Cox to the accompaniment of ringing guitars from Pat Sullivan. Sullivan takes the mic for "Bury Your Burden," a tune with an intriguing bluegrass-gone-raga style while the band whips up a country-rock barn dance for "If I Was in El Dorado." Neil Young is also an obvious influence for Oakley Hall ("Having Fun Again," "Nite Lights, Dark Days") and the eclectic sounds throughout Gypsum Strings meld flawlessly as they do on many of Young's finer efforts. Fred Wallace plays a lengthy banjo intro and is featured as the lead player on the set's closer, "Spanish Fandango."
