Folksinger and multi-instrumentalist Bett Padgett’s ninth album is compelling as her original material touches the soul and stimulates the mind. The topical songwriter may not be widely known outside of her native North Carolina, but her material deserves a listen. Her title track shows that she clearly has the ambition and a focus to follow her muse. Many of her songs deal with social, political and environmental problems facing current and future generations. “Be Kind” emphasizes respect, “The Old Front Porch” is nostalgic, and “Too Much Trouble” has us questioning social media. Padgett encourages and calls us to action in “We Need a Miracle Now,” “Pale Blue Dot” and “Tell Us When.” Her presentation is graceful, personal and relaxed. Intelligent perspectives and insights are filled with lovely irony and thought-provoking optimism such as one might find in the folk genre’s classic sing-along songbook “Rise Up Singing!”  The album’s three covers (“In My Life,” “The Water is Wide,” “Auld Lang Syne”) are fairly standard classics but serve to reinforce the album’s underlying theme of hope for a better world.  (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)