Bode produced the session herself, working closely with her band (drummer Derrick Phillips; bassist (and husband) Syd Rodway; and songwriting partner Adam Maness on piano, guitar, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer), to give each song a subtly calibrated instrumental setting. With the cohesiveness of a jazz combo, her band gracefully delineates each tune's narrative arc. Several pieces feature expanded arrangements with strings, backup singers, and special guest soloist John Ellis on tenor sax and flute.

Recorded by the ensemble playing together in the studio -- with minimal use of overdubs -- The Little Garden (Erin's fourth CD) picks up where Bode and Maness left off on her acclaimed Over and Over release (2006). Their gift for writing deceptively simple, endearing melodies has deepened over time, as have their lyrics. "These songs are the culmination of what we've been working on for the past two years," Bode says. "On Over and Over, there was a lot of music that we wrote at a particular time of our life. Both Adam and I had just met the people we were going to marry, so there were a lot of love songs. The songs on The Little Garden have more life situations, things you go through daily, and so it's a natural progression."

While many reviewers have compared jazz-tinged Bode to Norah Jones, and Eva Cassidy (an early source of inspiration), she has forged her own path and sounds as little like her aforementioned peers as Nancy Wilson does Dinah Washington. She doesn't shy away from the singer/songwriter label, feeling that it's a wide enough river to accommodate all of her influences and interests.