[Burlap Palace] is an engaging tour de force. Tributes to bygone musical eras and styles can mire in no-man's land: literal clonings may turn out retro and anachronistic. On the other side is the danger of over contemporizing with the bells and whistles du jour: click tracks, sampling, synths, feedback, and the like can destroy period authenticity. [Burlap Palace] pulls it off. Using a cast of homegrown Philly pickers and vocalists, [Producer Edan Cohen] brings a nostalgic echo of Etta [James], Aretha [Franklin], [Wilson] Pickett, and company. At the same time he does manage to update the music so that it resonates with the sonorities of today. And, wisely, he has used the services of Shoals legend Jimmy Johnson to help recall another time and another place. - Jerry Wexler (former Vice-President of Atlantic Records)