If a live concert turns attendees into fans, it's fantastic. If a tribute album inspires one to listen to the original performer, that is even better, and probably the deepest compliment.

On the John Fahey tribute album I Am the Resurrection, the acoustic guitar extraordinaire's music speaks for itself, no matter who is playing the mostly bluesy, finger-picking-good arrangements.

Sufjan Stevens lends his Midas touch to "Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park'" on track three and receives the first vocal privileges of the album. His high-pitched voice flutters to the heavens, and makes a believer out of listeners.

Calexico picks up the pace two minutes into track five, "Dance of Death," displaying the deep syncopation favored by Fahey. This syncopation is revisited later in the album, as the motif of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" is heard throughout M. Ward's "Bean Vine Blues #2."

"Dance of the Inhabitants…" by Jason Q. Lytle of Grandaddy shows Fahey's experimental distortion, and is reminiscent of the sound of the Mars Volta — if they sobered up.

The only confusing aspect of the album is in the track arrangement. The choice of selection is as diverse as Fahey's musical career, but then the order of tracks seems to lose focus and flow after the first six tracks.

Grade: A