Braden Gates is writing hard hitting topical songs giving us a street view of our times and that are delivered with honesty and conviction. Gates' warm and slightly gravelly voice relays stories that are funny and heartbreaking - usually over the course of the same tune. Beyond any specific tune, Gates' gifts as a wordsmith, or his talents arranging fine melodies for acoustic strings, there's an intangible quality to the man's work - call it sincerity - that makes you want to listen.