Gift Horse

With scrappy idealism and streetcorner eloquence, Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers take another step toward the big leagues on Gift Horse. Over the past decade, this western Massachusetts quartet has built a reputation on rootsy folk-rock material and an unremitting tour schedule. This album finds them further refining their upbeat, openhearted sound in a set of songs examining love, family ties, and mortality's shadow. Tunes like “Roots and Wings,” “Watch You Grow,” and “Noelle, Noelle” are disarming in their candor and compassion; “Songs for Lovers” and “Long Days, Fast Years” pose deep spiritual questions without flinching. Kellogg delivers these tunes with an affable Everyman spirit, cutting loose on the festive “Gravity” and the John Mellencamp-esque “1993.” There’s a larger social dimension evident as well, heard especially on “We Belong Here,” an ode to community spirit. In its unpretentious way, Gift Horse is a political statement meant for troubled times, as well as a deeply personal celebration of bonds between generations.