Judy Collins has made what is essentially a rock record with a guy half her age named Ari Hest. It’s kind of like those records she made in the 1970’s and 80’s but better — comes with maturity I guess.

Silver Skies Blue is the result of a year’s writing collaboration between Hest and Collins. It’s also been nominated for a grammy for “Best Folk Recording” this year, 2017. In the times of Trump, this album has some worth saving.

The vocal blend is superb — Collins picked a good writing and duet partner for her first collab. Some of the songs are up-tempo and very rocky while others are down and mellow.

It’s not typical Collins fodder. it’s new and interesting.

Despite me giving such positive comments, i really don’t know what to say about the record. It’s too much of a crossover record between rock and folk. Kind of like what Collins did in the late–70’s and early–80’s. The sound is more conducive than those experiments with pop and the songwriting is superb.