| A Review of Never Ending Conversation Way, way, way back in the day, poetry — wait, don't run away — was originally meant to be sung; that's partly why it had meter and rhyme. Kelly Mulhollan, half of the Fayetteville folk duo Still on the Hill , is doing his part to renew the art song genre with Never Ending Conversation , an album of favorite poems set to music. Poets represented include Langston Hughes, William Blake, Wallace Stevens, W.H. Auden and e.e. cummings. There's also a section of the book of Jeremiah and a poem by Mulhollan. Though their voices are not at all similar, Mulhollan's delivery here reminds one of Leonard Cohen singing his own songs — giving the spotlight to the words, not the voice. Mulhollan's partner, Donna Stjerna, adds complementary vocals on some tracks, and Mulhollan adds some harmony, percussion and even a recording of spring peepers. Best of all, Mulhollan's lush guitar arrangements and nimble playing are captivating. The guitar does at least as much as the melodies and vocals do to take the listener to poetry's source, that place in the heart where pain and beauty lie side by side. |