(LP + CD set) Mark The Hard Earth is a very impressive contemporary Scottish folk album, with a strong, slow-growing charm. Irish American multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien adds the sonic equivalent of subtle marker pen highlights to many songs with his mandolin, banjo, ukulele and harmony vocals. Roy Dodds (drums) Ewen Vernal (bass), Donald Shaw (keyboards) and guitarist Ian Carr play alongside producer and fiddlerJohn McCusker and Kris. Irish singer Heidi Talbot duets with Drever on The Banks of the Nile, as before, the album mixes old andnew writing.