Club, Hamilton Anni Clark proved to be a genuine `Maine' event in a Spring Folk Festival which must go down as one of the best on record.

The New England singer/songwriter wove a tapestry of sound which kept her Saturday night audience spellbound.

And Clark proved her versatility, flitting from the Sam Cooke classic Bring It on Home, through her own, beautifully-observed, work, to a neat take-off of (Canadian) Joni Mitchell's You're So Vain.

The Mitchell almost-cover -- a defiant defence of her home state called I'm From Maine -- knocks stereotypes about rural communities common everywhere with wit and a slightly savage irony.

And Clark switched effortlessly to genuine pathos with Don't Check Out, dedicated to her father, who lost the place a bit after his second wife died.

Humour resurfaced with a Shawn Colvin cover called Leave Your Baggage Outside, a kick at the popularity of the US obsession with self-help books and navel-contemplating self-analysis.

Clark recalled her days at the University of Maine at Orono, as it was then known, with a wistful song about sitting on train tracks with a friend and betting on whether the sunrise or a train will hit them first.

And the song doubles as a note on the fleeting nature of college days and friendship sworn eternal -- to people you never see again after graduating.

The song also gave Clark a chance to show off the incredible range of her voice -- holding on to notes longer than a Canadian bank teller.

Other highlights included Indian Summer, about the dying of the sun prior to the long, hard New England winter, painting a picture of storing up the rays to last through "mid-April snow.'' And I Hear Your Voice -- about the life-long influence of mother/daughter relations -- displayed frankness which was frankly charming.

It's hardly surprising there was a roaring trade being done at the door for Clark's fourth and latest album, A Light for Liza (Outer Green Records), named for the friend on the railroad track.

I'd never heard of Clark before -- which is my loss not hers. But I'll make a point of listening to A Light for Liza again and again.

Earlier, Folk Club members Mick Hickey and Richard Lettington joined forces on banjo/mandolin and guitar respectively for a short set showing off their entirely respectable skills.

The duo took a quick turn back to the 60s with a diverse selection, covering Canadian poet/songwriter Leonard Cohen to Irish folk star Christy Moore.

For a entry price of $15 for non-members -- and $5 less than that for those wise enough to sign up as members of the Folk Club -- the evening was a true bargain and one of the best deals on offer.

The Festival -- which has already showcased English folkie Paul Downes and the extremely polished Fairport Convention -- continues with a Sixties Night on Saturday, May 2 and East Coast USA band Acoustic Nuisance on Saturday, May 16.

Tickets for all events are available at Hamilton's Music Box or at the door -- unless there's a usually-warranted full house.

Raymond Hainey Anni Clark enchanted faithful folkies Saturday night.