Iowa Music Store, a hidden treasure in the heart of Ames’ historical downtown, holds a bounty of local music and band merchandise right above the Cupcake Emporium. Pennyhawk’s album “Sisterbones” is the current feature album on the Iowa Music Store’s website.

The nine-track album, written, performed, mixed and mastered by Kate Kennedy, is well worth the $12 price tag. According to its Facebook page, Pennyhawk is in the genre of “saloon folk,” an accurate categorization for such a unique sound.

“Sisterbones,” the title and opening track of the album, is a slow introduction to Kennedy’s bluegrass style voice, sounding more like rhythmic speaking than singing. By the second track, “Change Your Garden Change Your Life,” Kennedy works into more of an up-tempo ballad style of singing with comedic lyrics. “Shelby,” third track of the album, is a classic style ballad about the story of a pet dog who decides to leave.

“Of Course You Don’t Need Glasses,” track four, seeps deeper into the heartfelt tones of a folk ballad, which continues into track five, “Blissed Out Are the Wayward.” “You’ll Have to Wait,” a tune that starts out sounding like Barry Louis Polisar’s “All I Want is You” from the soundtrack of the 2007 film, “Juno,” transitions into a unique array of chords.

The seventh track of the album, “Timid Women,” transitions into a faster paced sound than the rest of the album and an aggressive tone. “Timid Women’s Mother,” track eight, is an acoustic instrumental counterpart to track seven.

“W(rest)le Remix” by Utopia Park, the last track of the album, is completely different than the entire album. The raw folk sound of Kennedy’s voice mixed with the synthesized sounds of Utopia Park creates a unique sound from most folk or synth music. Such an interesting track is a great way to wrap up the album.