Anyone who has heard this husband-and-wife duo perform, either on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," where they make up part of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet, or on record, has heard the heartfelt and sincere sounds they make.

And anyone who has seen them perform live, and watched them move in tandem as the spirit of the song engulfs them, understands the bond between these two. It's as plain and complex a notion as love, for the music and for each other.

They explore this bond on "Visions of Love," their new album from Sugar Hill records, and through a baker's dozen tunes they provide not only a moving tribute to some of the best roots music ever recorded, but a monument to just how deep simple passion can be.

Produced by Keillor, the CD serves up such lovely numbers as Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man," Ivon Novello and Lena Guilbert Ford's "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and Jack Neville and Jimmie Rodgers' "Mississippi Delta Blues."

The songs are quiet and pretty, and perfect showcases for the Williamses achingly emotive voices and their barebones and evocative arrangements.

No merre trip down memory lane, "Visions of Love" seizes time-honored musical ideas and moves them into the modern age, with superb production and a theatrical sensibility that lays open such haints as "Wandering Boy" and "Hungry Eyes."

They love the music, and remind us of why we should, too.

___ Mike Morgan