Bob Townsend

"This is some album release party," Kristen Hall said with a laugh at the start of her performance at the Variety Playhouse on Saturday. "We don't even have any CDs to sell." But if the Atlanta singer/songwriter's entrepreneurial timing was a bit off, having Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Sailers and Kristian Bush of Billy Pilgrim on hand for several songs seemed to strike just the right chord with the enthusiastic crowd of friends and fans who came to celebrate Hall's new Windham Hill/High Street release, Be Careful What You Wish For... due out today.

Hall's connection to fellow local artists who have made it big nationally, such as the Indigo Girls and Billy Pilgrim, underscores the proposition that Atlanta is the hottest spot anywhere for acoustic music. And Hall's new album is the strongest rumble yet in a career that's seemed to be on the edge of exploding for the past couple of years.

Produced by Jerry Marotta - who also plays drums on the album and has worked with everyone from Linda Ronstadt to Peter Gabriel - Be Careful What You Wish For... wraps Hall's first-person lyrics and keening melodies in a sonically sophisticated package. The presence of master studio musicians such as guitarist Bill Dillion, bassist Tony Levin and pianist David Sancious, give the singer's introspective folk-based music a pop/rock sheen that will no doubt appeal to a diverse audience. Other guests on the album include Matthew Sweet, Sara Lee, Jules Shear and John Sebastian as well as Atlanta pals Bush, Saliers and guitarist Cooper Tisdale.

Hall also is scheduled to open for the Indigo Girls on their upcoming tour, which will include dates at Radio City Music Hall in New York later this month.