When Jennifer Daniels is asked what inspired the title track of her newest CD, Dive and Fly, the cassette recorder taping the conversation actually stops working before she can answer. It's somehow fitting, given the mysterious and unexplainable nature of the singer-songwriter's music. Anyway, as Daniels coyly points out, "If I could explain the song, then I never would've written it."

She has an easier time explaining the album as a whole. "Dive and Fly is about the desire to do something humanly impossible, to get free of gravity," she says. "All of the songs echo that theme in some way. The feeling that we're made for more than we get, whether physically or relationally, is something that drives me to seek answers, to find something I can count on. It also explores some of the grief of my own loneliness and unfaithfulness."

This searching has led Daniels through dark territory in her soul and back -- a painful and reflective process that lends itself nicely to her craft, always seeming to find solace in the haunting power of nature and human commitment. Her music stands as a testament to the beauty that can be found among the painful realities of everyday life.

"If we allow ourselves to think and feel deeply, then we're bound to be deeply disappointed," she says. "My songs reflect that sorrow, but also the joy of intimate love and stability."

Though Daniels performs this weekend -- during Dive and Fly's CD release party at Eddie's Attic -- with a full band, her only accompaniment usually is the mandolin and guitar provided by her husband and constant touring companion Jeff Neal. The two make their home atop Lookout Mountain, on the Tennessee/Georgia border, but for the last two-and-a-half years, they've spent most of their time on the road. Daniels and Neal rely on live shows and the Internet to get their independent releases to the public. Her website, jenniferdaniels.com, averages 2,000 hits a month and online distributor pastemusic.com began receiving advance orders for Dive and Fly weeks ago.

Her music, though, is hardly the product of cyberspace. Like good literature, Daniels' songs have a timeless quality to them. You get the feeling Flannery O'Connor and Emily Dickinson would have been fans. J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Frost also might have a word or two on her behalf. Lost in the overall beauty of Dive and Fly's ethereal songs, you may find yourself scrambling for the lyric sheet to find out what you missed. From the opening pipes of the title track to the closing a cappella of the traditional "Danny Boy," the CD springs from Celtic roots. But throughout, Daniels and Neal pepper the music with good ol' American guitar crunch and backbeat, something that will surprise longtime Daniels fans.

Though she's most often compared to Sarah McLachlan, due to a similar ability to belt out a note and have it sound like a whisper, Daniels considers Suzanne Vega more of an influence. "She taught me that every word has to be placed on purpose -- no filler -- and that rhymes are not nearly as important as meaning," she says.

In the male-dominated music biz, it seems that every other year has become the year of "women in music." More often than not, a talented woman with something to say gets lumped into a broad category -- chick with a guitar, for instance -- which can be especially frustrating for Daniels. After all, where's the corresponding stud with a guitar category? And clubs never seem to advertise "Dude Night" when it's an all-male bill, the way they do "Chick Night" when it's all women.

This intimate oppression bothers Daniels and, while she's not overtly political in her songs, she's also not afraid to get on her soapbox when asked about the subject. "I hope we're coming to a point when it's less important to note that I am a woman than it is to note that I craft lovely songs," she says. "It's odd that 'chick with a guitar' has become a genre of music. To classify something is an easy way to define and understand it, but in this case, women are being misunderstood. Women's songs are as different as their personalities."

Jennifer Daniels' CD release party for Dive and Fly is Fri., March 23, at Eddie's Attic. Tickets are $8. Show time is 9:30 p.m. For more information call 404-377-4976.