In Brief

*** Kathy Mattea, "Time Passes By," Mercury. With fiddles sawing, dobros yearning and guitars plucking, Mattea turns in a largely acoustic, heavily bluegrass-flavored album that still somehow manages to sound not far removed from pop folkies like Suzanne Vega. Her unflappable sincerity rings through even on a couple of gooey songs she, and time, should have passed by.