Award-winning Boston contemporary folk singer/songwriter Terry Kitchen, called "one of New England's finest songwriters" by The Boston Globe, is as much a diviner of feelings as a musician. His new CD The Quiet Places combines his considerable skills as a singer, guitarist, composer and poet with his endless curiosity about how we feel, and why. At this moment in time, when so much is happening so quickly, Kitchen shuts out the noise, unplugs, and takes us deep inside the human heart, with all its grace and contradictions. Kitchen's unflinching honesty, keen ear for telling details, and deep empathy for those destined, like himself, to keep searching for whatever's just out of reach, make The Quiet Places a rich and rewarding musical journey. Like its predecessor, 2015's The Post-American Century, The Quiet Places is filled with Kitchen's distinctive songcraft and arresting imagery, but this time the focus is tighter, on the story within the story. From the deceptively simple bluegrass of "Enjoy It While It Lasts" and Seeger-esque folk of "Seeds" to the haunting piano ballad "The Kid Behind the Wall" and midnight blues of "Jericho," The Quiet Places strips away the veneer of who we'd like to be and shows us as we are. Kitchen's intimate vocals and fluid guitar are supported by a talented array of singers and musicians. Mara Levine adds soaring harmonies to "Enjoy It While It Lasts" and "Seeds," while Amy Malkoff adds her intuitive harmony to the title song, and Terry's college singing partner Rebecca Lynch gives a country twang to "She's Already Cried." Musicians include Bob Harris (mandolin on "Enjoy It While It Lasts"), Don Barry (upright bass), Roger Williams (Dobro on "She's Already Cried") and Sam Dechenne, who contributes the Miles-Ahead trumpet solo on "Jericho." Kitchen is also joined by reed player Barry Singer and drummer Chris Peeler, both veterans of Kitchen's '80s band Loose Ties. Kitchen himself adds keyboards and bass, most notably on the album's one cover song, the ecologically-themed "Nature's Way," originally by the band Spirit. The intensity Kitchen brings to his subjects is evident whether they're joyful (the gently expectant swing of "Half You Half Me"), stormy ("Let Your Wild Winds Blow") or somewhere in between (the boy-to-man vulnerability of "It's OK to Be Afraid"). But again and again, Kitchen proves the most revealing insights are found in The Quiet Places.