I read this great review of No October the other day…lots of nice things being said about the record and the production, but my favorite part had to be this:

Recorded in a barn (seriously) in Buffalo, Minn., with a ton of wonderful musical friends assisting … The most impressive part of the deal is that Olson is never buried by his friends. They simply help to bring to life this inspired batch of songs.

… No October is roots music at its best, as Olson combines an undercurrent of blues throughout the project and layers country and folk over that in an amalgam that is wire-welded airtight.

That emphasis is mine. When Dave and I were rounding up musicians for the project, the word “empathetic” came up more than once. It seems like kind of a pretentious word, but it truly fits the talents of everyone on this record — that is, almost everything they play makes other people sound good.