There are some CDs, which over time have become as close to my heart as a good friend. I have several gems which I would hate to be without and I suspect you too can name a few of your own. You know the ones; ones you play when you are in need of comfort food for your ears and soul. Most of mine come from way back in the sixties and seventies, a time when my musical tastes were growing and new discoveries were a frequent pleasure. These days, although I profess to have a very eclectic taste in music, my boundaries are set more firmly than they once were and the chance of any new CD being added to that list is slim. But, once in a very long while a CD comes along that feels like a welcome acquaintance with all the potential to become a good friend.
It's been a couple of years since Martha Scanlan's The West Was Burning became a constant companion in the car on my early morning fishing trips. It has worked its way into my life at such a deep level that it seems sacrilegious not to slip it into the CD player as I pull out of the drive on my way to a favorite fishing hole. Many a trip though early morning fog has been blessed with Martha's waif-like voice and her powerful banjo punctuated by the solid anchor of Levon Helms drumming. Playing it has became such a ritual, I suspect that the fish won't really bite until I've sung along with Seeds of the Pine.
Caroline Herring [Photo © Jeff Fasano]
Over the past few weeks however, when occasion demands that Martha be played, there has been a new CD in the car's player that I am finding it more and more difficult to remove. The CD is Caroline Herring's Golden Apples of the Sun. It took me several plays to realize the power and depth inherent in this CD and now the more I listen to it, the more it begins to feel like an old friend.
Tales of the Islander, the CD's opening track transports me to the Mississippi Gulf islands in the company of a man so driven by passion that he has no time to sleep; a man who ties sheets together and escapes from his mental hospital to ride a raft across the water to an island where he is powerfully moved to render into paintings the rich expressions of nature that have taken such hold of his senses. A Turn Upon the Hill presents the cameo of a young girl hesitant at having her photograph taken by a stranger, someone of whom she wonders, "can he see inside me". In The Dozens I learn of a woman who grew up in a segregated white neighborhood struggling to know more about the life that was hidden from her.
These are heartfelt and deep songs, born from the emotion and passion of Caroline Herring, who together with producer and musician David "Goody" Goodrich has created a musically sparse landscape that fittingly provides the fertile soil to sustain and support these masterful songs.
Throughout the CD Caroline's voice assumes an upfront role while below, the words are subtly wrapped in the intricate dance of her fine acoustic playing and underpinned by the richly layered soundscapes of Goody's fluid musicianship.
Caroline Performing at The Green River Festival 2009 [Photo © Jake Jacobson]
Each of the six new songs Caroline has penned carry a stamp of authenticity that comes from a songwriter who goes deep within to draw on her life experience. Here she lays down lyrics that speak of her children, of her grandmother, of artists poets and friends, but these are no mere biographical stories, rather they speak loudly of Caroline's personal and often emotional connection with these characters, and carry recurring themes of strong women, freedom, and the emotional power of nature.
In addition to six new songs Caroline has provided a unique and individual approach to some well known covers. She has been courageous and inventive, often changing the melody and feel, but always putting the lyrics at the forefront. In Lauper's True Colors, Caroline has played with the melody, stripped away the staccato beat of the original, and slowed down the pace to make it her own. The opening bars are played very deliberately on the bass strings of the acoustic guitar, giving a genuine feel of the sadness and angst of the lyrics, but these deep bass sounds are almost imperceptibly replaced by lighter tones as the lyrics rise to a positive affirmation of the subject's true colors. Caroline's version is a world away from Cindy Lauper's original or Phil Collin's beat filled attempt, it's more akin to Eva Cassidy's gentle version but with much darker color in the tone and presentation, eloquently echoing the sadness and pain to which the singer is responding.
In her version of See See Rider there is a harking back to the theme of water and freedom so evident in opening track. Unlike Ma Rainey's version though, in which the singer is obviously presented as a victim, Caroline's singer casts herself as a free spirit whose home is on the water. She refuses to be her lover's dog any longer and rather than singing of getting a gun to shoot him so that no-one else can have him, she triumphantly proclaims that her leaving of him will be his loss, as she calmly prepares to move on.
Photo © Jeff Fasano
On this CD Caroline has moved some distance from the country flavor of her previous albums. By stepping away from her southern home and recording this CD in an unfamiliar Connecticut studio during a blizzard, Caroline seems to have found a new level of freedom and expression. Working with producer David as the only additional musician has resulted in a stripped down, almost unplugged, sound that gives us the pleasure of experiencing her expressive and melodic voice uncluttered and unencumbered by the music. Nowhere is this more evident than on The Wild Rose in which she combines elements of Wendell Berry's poem of the same name with Pablo Naruda's "The Light Wraps You" into a short but intriguing song which once again speaks of the raw and revelatory power of nature. Accompanied only by David Goodrich on piano she shows us what an accomplished performer she has become by filling the cleverly crafted voids between Goody's finely placed keystrokes, with a voice that has a passion and breadth of expression that chills the spine.
Likewise the full range of her voice is let loose on her unerringly straight cover of Joni Mitchell's Cactus Tree, where it soars and falls al la Joni as she treats us to a stunning version of this ambitious cover.
This is an intriguing album by a mature performer who has much to say and the skill and talent as songwriter to say it well. Her voice is at once powerful, plaintive and passionate and has an undoubted ability to move the listener. Remarkably, there are very few hidden depths in this CD, everything is presented up-front and with a passion and clarity that imbues it with raw emotional power. The collaboration with David Goodrich and Engineer Mark Thayer has produced a gem of a CD that I will be listening to in years to come.
The CD was provided for review by Signature Sounds Records PO Box 106 Whately MA 01093 USA.
More info on Signature Sounds Records can be Found Here: Signature Sounds
More info on Caroline Herring can be found here: Caroline Herring
More info on David Goodrich can be found here: David Goodrich
More info on Martha Scanlan can be found here: Martha Scanlan
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