Back in the dark days of the State Senate campaign, when all hope might well have been lost, we decided to roll the dice on a questionable proposition: a performance benefit to raise much-needed funds, and to showcase our support in the creative community. It was dicey because July is July, and both performers and potential audience-members have much better things to do. But we knew we were halfway home when folk icon Patti Casey agreed to headline.

And now, here it is almost 2011, and Patti has a brand new record on store shelves: The Heart of a Waiting Boy. Like all of Casey’s material, it’s rich and powerful and palpably Good, not just as music but as food for the soul. You can sample all the tracks by clicking here.

If you haven’t finished your gift-giving yet, she’s local, she’s wildly talented, and it’s the sort of music that will stand by you in the darker days of winter.