In 2009, Dan Petrich released the excellent Sycamore Tales, and I really wish that I had gotten to know this deeply introspective album sooner. The sound is built on a foundation of folk and Americana, and ranges from hints of 70s radio (“Chance the Pearl” and “The Seeds are Wasted”) to beautiful folk ballads and instrumentals (“J.P. Special” and “Treasure Lake”). It’s a remarkable debut, which My Old Kentucky Blog called: “…a sparse and powerful record about real people dealing with real problems.”