My Spring Break thus far has been a battle. A battle with Not Max over sleep. A battle with Boy Z over appropriate and inappropriate targets for hurled objects. A battle with Dr. O’C to keep from biting off each other’s head. I’m pretty sure I’m losing most of these battles right now.

Not Max and I continue circling one another like the wary combatants we are. He’s still not sure about me and I’m still not sure about him. Every now and again we get close to a breakthrough – I feel my heart melting a bit, a little half smile crosses his face. Then he starts screaming at me again.

But I’m not that easily deterred. We’ll get there.

One of the battles I may have won was over Boy Z’s sleeping arrangements. One mission for the break was to get Boy Z out of his cot (crib) and into his bed. On Monday, I decided to force the issue. I disassembled his cot and put it into the garage. I had him ‘help’ and we talked it over while we took it apart. All good. That night, we went through the bedtime routine and he went into the bed willingly for the first time since we bought the damn thing a month ago.

I shut the door, held my breath and waited.

Silence.

Feeling a bit chuffed, I headed downstairs to brag and watch an episode of The Wire with Dr. O’C. But 20 minutes later, I heard the sound of a doorknob rattling and a soft, but urgent, ‘Bubba?’

I went in to him and it was clear he had been crying, his face wet and eyes swollen. I sat down with him on the bed.

“What’s the matter, Boy Z, are you scared?”

“Scad. Yeah.”

“Why? What’s scary?”

But that question is far beyond the scope of a two year old. Lots of things are scary, that’s the nature of childhood. Life is big and loud and full of surprises – many of them unpleasant. But Boy Z is such a burly little tough guy that I don’t think of him ever being scared. He’s shy around people, to be sure, but when faced with most of life’s challenges he marches right up to them and delivers a cricket bat to their skull.

Sometimes life sends a dragon your way that isn’t slain so easily. Whatever it was about that bed was too much for Boy Z. He had tried. He stayed up there, crying silently for twenty minutes before he leapt from the bed and sought help.

I did  what I could – sang a song, turned on a light for him, brought him every stuffed animal he owns and a couple of diggers.

As I walked out of the room, I turned back and that image – my very small boy in a very big bed, eyes wide and darting, with tears drying on his cheeks – well, it cracked my heart a little. But I turned, shut the door and exhaled*. Because that’s what I had to do.

At that moment, it seemed to me that parenting is sometimes just a string of tiny heartbreaks.

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*Actually, I’m curious whether it is a linear or exponential relationship. In other words, where n=the number of kids, would the increased difficulty be (n-1)x4 or 4^(n-1)? Coalminer’s Grandaughter, Formerly Fun, Reinventing Dad – any insight?

**That, of course, wasn’t the end of it. He made it through the night, but only with Dr. O’C in bed with him for an hour and me for about four hours. He did better last night, only needed me for about an hour. He’ll be fine. Tonight? So far, so good.

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I absolutely adore Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards. Her debut LP, 2003’s “Failer” , was an alt-country masterpiece. She’s never really matched the quality of that debut, but she’s put out two more outstanding albums. The lovely “Scared At Night” comes from 2008’s “Asking For Flowers”, which is available from .

I remember talking alt-country one night with a slightly older friend who took great pleasure in lecturing me about Uncle Tupelo not being the first band to mix punk and country. John Doe and Exene Cervenka did it while Tweedy and Farrar were still playing with Tonka trucks – was roughly how this diatrabe went. This is probably true, but they were doing it while I was playing with Tonka trucks as well, and I’ve never been able to really get into X.

So when Boston’s Sarah Borges breaks out in “Come Back to Me” from X’s “Under the Big Black Sun” on her recent record she’s making a statement – “I’m a little bit country, but I’ve got solid punk rock creds.” The thing is, this posturing isn’t necessary because, whether or not they’re “a little bit punk” Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles have made a proper good country record. In this era of saccharine radio country that is something of which to be damn proud. Not bad for a Yankee girl.

What Borges and her crew are doing is making old-school country music – the kind of music that came out of Nashville before things went horribly wrong in the 80’s. It’s her band , The Broken Singles, that makes the first impression on her “Diamonds in the Dark” sophomore LP – they’re solid and polished rollicking in with a classic country riff. But when Borges comes in they don’t overshadow her clear and brassy vocals.

Borges and the band are at their best on tracks like “False Eyelashes” as they lay down that old style country that is so notably absent from today’s C&W radio. They honk and tonk with the best of them on cuts like “Open Up Your Back Door” and when she unleashes her Broken Singles to jam “Diamonds in the Dark” is at its strongest. Mike Castellana is just masterful when he sits down at the pedal steel – go baldies! The only time “Diamonds in the Dark” pales is when they slow things down a little. That’s not to say that the softer ballads fall flat, they just aren’t as compelling as the up tempo numbers.

Borges gets compared to Lucinda Williams in a few reviews but I think a more apt comparison is to Ottawa’s Kathleen Edwards. Borges is a stronger singer than the Canadian, but they share the same slightly bend lyrical sensibility that plants them firmly in the “alt” camp.

Check out “Open Up The Backdoor” and if you enjoy it Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles’ “Diamonds in the Dark” is out on Sugar Hill and available from and Amazon.

MP3: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles – “Open Up The Backdoor”

MP3: The Breeders – “Bang On”

Jim Noir’s 2005 debut “Tower of Love” featured deviously catchy electropop numbers such as “Eanie, Meanie” and “My Patch”. Both of these tracks were used to sell something – probably pretty effectively – on British TV. Noir seems to be back with another psychedelica inspired jingle ahead of his sophomore effort – set to be released on 7 April in the UK. Pre-order “Jim Noir” from My Dad Recordings or Amazon.

MP3: Jim Noir – “Don’t You Worry”

I’ve been smitten by Kathleen Edwards since seeing her in support of “Failer” in Columbia, Missouri back in 2003. There’s just something about the Canadian singer-songwriter that turns all the right cranks for this listener. Her debut was a masterpiece with a solid sophomore effort. Her new record “Asking for Flowers” is out this week in the States. Fans in Blighty have to wait until late April – dammit! The title track indicates that it may be worth the wait. If you’re in North America, get “Asking for Flowers” from .

MP3: Kathleen Edwards – “Asking for Flowers”

Nicholas Alan is getting on my nerves. I got a few tracks from his recent self-released record and was prepared to dismiss them after a quick listen. I didn’t like his website or his bio or his photos. As I started listening to the tracks he sent along it seemed that it would be fairly straightforward to pigeonhole him as a wanna be Elliot Smith lo-fi folker. But the thing his, his lyrics are pretty good. I may be completely off base, but have a listen to “A Tired Apartment” and make your own decision. Get “Busker”directly from Alan.

MP3: Nicholas Alan – “A Tired Apartment”

There’s nothing better than a little Dusty in the right time and place – a grey weekend morning in bed, for example. When I heard that journeywoman country starlet Shelby Lynne was releasing what is essentially a Dusty Springfield tribute album I had to stifle a yawn. Even when I started to see some good reviews from reliable sources I wasn’t sold. But after hearing her cover of “Just A Little Lovin’” on a grey English morning, call me a convert. Get “Just A Little Lovin’” from Amazon or .

MP3: Shelby Lynne – “Just A Little Lovin’”