Timeless yet topical clawhammer banjo based originals to lift spirits and touch hearts.

The Love Still Shows, follow up to 2014’s critically praised Nameless Heart, brings Donna Lynn Caskey’s soulful, endearing songwriting back to eager audiences. Haunting and jubilant notes ring out from her traditional, clawhammer-style banjo on eleven tracks, forming a stirring musical love letter to listeners. Themes deftly maneuver from everyday pleasures to bittersweet memories and on to new beginnings.

A long-time social worker by day, Donna Lynn’s songs evoke a vivid emotional landscape. The album opens with “Break Free,” an encouraging anthem of claiming one’s own voice despite obstacles. “It Ain’t Personal” reassures listeners that sometimes it takes backtracking to get back on track, and “Beauty Queen” declares we are whole regardless of perceived imperfections. The album is at turns confessional on tracks like “Look At Me,” “The Book,” and “I Am Willing/Down By The Riverside” as well as humorous, including a love song to an “Angel Of A Cat.”

Maturity abounds on Donna Lynn’s sophomore effort with growth as a songwriter and musician showcased throughout the album. The youngest of ten children, she reflects on the passing of senior-age parents on the title track “The Love Still Shows” as well as on “Odds Are For Beating.” Though personal, these songs also reveal unexpected gifts amid the pain and messiness of life in general, as do the timeless sounding “My Blessed Child” and “The Time Is Here.”

Acclaimed Los Angeles producer, singer-songwriter, and sideman Ed Tree (Spencer Davis) captures the essence of Donna Lynn’s sound while adding guitar, bass, harmonium, and vocals in support. The arrangements are further enhanced by world-class guest musicians including fiddler Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers), percussionists Ray Yslas (David Sanborn) and Debra Dobkin (Bonnie Raitt), violist Novi Novog (Doobie Brothers), and vocalists Penny Nichols (Jimmy Buffett) and Glen Roethel. The Love Still Shows treats the ears in addition to nourishing the heart.

Timeless yet topical clawhammer banjo based originals to lift spirits and touch hearts.

Nameless Heart is the debut album of singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player Donna Lynn Caskey. Grammy-nominated producer Mark Hallman (Carole King, Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson) adds just the right amount of vocals, percussion, guitar, bass, bouzouki, piano and studio warmth to the arrangements to tastefully support Donna Lynn and her classic banjo sound.

“Slot Machine” (previously recorded by Julie Christensen) elicits a vivid picture of the gamble of love. A sassy “Flower Print Dress” (also featured in the 2014 Banjo Babes Calendar & Album) symbolizes ill-advised romance amid a lush, southern June. “The Good News” pans for gold in the mud of life and, like many of Caskey's songs, inspires listeners to sing along.