New England songwriter Joe Crookston must have a direct line to the Fates. These goddesses of Ancient Greece sat high in the heavens, spinning the thread of our lives into stories. Joe, on the other hand, walks among us, pulling the disparate stories of our lives and weaving them together into songs that touch deep inside of us. On his new album, Darkling and the Bluebird Jubilee, Joe Crookston draws from diverse inspirations like Taoist parables, the death of poet Dylan Thomas, animal fables, the passage of time and the timelessness of nature. But true to his craft, he draws these inspirations into his life and our lives, making them relevant and unexpectedly powerful. He sets the songs in a rich bed of acoustic instrumentation, playing guitar and clawhammer banjo primarily and sharing his music with a host of New England folk musicians. His songs nestle into the backdrop of American roots music, and this setting shows off the luster of his talents as a folk songwriter. Joe Crookston’s new album, Darkling and the Bluebird Jubilee, has only been out a few months and already it’s been on every Folk DJs list of favorites, only losing the top spot on April’s Folk-DJ Chart to Alison Krauss. This mirrors the reception his last album, Able Baker Charlie & Dog, received. It too topped the folk music charts, and was awarded 2009 Album of the Year by the International Folk Alliance. Joe’s been lauded as a DIY success story because of all the love his albums have received, but the truth is that his formula is pretty simple: just make great songs and beautiful music and the rest falls into place.