FEATURE ARTICLE
Fall Folk Preview 1997
by Seth RogovoyJoan Baez has always had a knack for ferreting out the best, young, unheralded songwriters. Since the early-'60s, when she recorded songs by Phil Ochs, Tim Hardin, Eric Andersen and some guy named Bob Dylan, Baez has made it her practice to cover songs by unknowns who might not otherwise be heard, and to feature some of them in her live shows. She continued this practice through the '70s with songs by Robbie Robertson, Kris Kristofferson and Jackson Browne, as well as in more recent years, when she introduced audiences to the likes of the Indigo Girls, John Wesley Harding and Mary Black.
On her upcoming album, GONE FROM DANGER (Guardian), Baez focuses on the work of a handful of contemporary songwriters who have yet to become household names. Prominent among them are Dar Williams and Richard Shindell, and Baez's efforts on their behalf could not have come at a better time for them, as both have just released new albums of their own and are touring together this fall.
Baez has been championing Williams' work for the past two years, during which time Williams opened shows for Baez in Europe and the U.S., and appeared on Baez's version of her song, "You're Aging Well," on 1995's RING THEM BELLS. Baez's GONE FROM DANGER includes two Williams compositions, and the Northampton-based singer- songwriter lends her vocals to several cuts on the album, which is due out on Sept. 23.
Williams herself is poised to break out in a big way this fall. "Are You Out There," the first single off her recently released CD, END OF THE SUMMER (Razor and Tie), has been garnering steady airplay around the nation the last few weeks. A savvy ode to free-form radio DJs who "always play the madmen poets," the song is just one of several hook-laden, radio-ready tunes on the CD.
Other potential hits include "Party Generation," which features an electric guitar solo (gasp!) and a huge, "We Are the World"-style choir singing the effervescent, beer-commercial-bouncy catch-line, "We are the party generation." Another tune, "What Do You Hear In These Sounds" -- a tongue-in-cheek look at psychotherapy -- is propelled by some catchy, hip-hop-style percussion, or what passes for such in new-folk.
Williams has not totally forsaken her roots in acoustic folk on END OF THE SUMMER, however. "If I Wrote You," -- which Baez covers on GONE FROM DANGER -- is a more typical Williams love ballad, albeit one given a Daniel Lanois-like setting by producer Steven Miller. And the title track is one of those sprawling, impressionistic song-poems you build an album around. But as soon as it ends, the album kicks back into gear with the electric guitars, drums and hooky chorus of "Teenagers, Kick Our Butts." In the immortal words of Ani DiFranco, "This ain't no namby-pamby folk music."
Williams isn't exactly unknown to the world at large; she even appeared on a few dates at this summer's Lilith Fair. The real discovery on Baez's album might prove to be Shindell, who for too long has labored in obscurity as one of the best-kept secrets in contemporary folk.
Up until now, the seminary dropout has been a much-overlooked writer's writer; his songs have been covered by other artists including Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. But as a performer and recording artist, he has been overshadowed by his former college bandmate, John Gorka, and lesser-deserving, new-folk poster boys like Ellis Paul.
Now, with three songs on Baez's GONE FROM DANGER and the opening slot reserved for him on Baez's upcoming winter tour, it seems like Shindell's ship is about to come in. And when it does, he'll have the goods to unload: the songs on his wonderful new CD, REUNION HILL (Shanachie).
Shindell's third album, REUNION HILL features a typical Shindellian mix of traditionally-styled historical ballads ("Reunion Hill"), contemporary political dramas ("May") and the sort of songs of spiritual struggle and existential crisis ("The Next Best Western," "Easy Street") that early on led this writer to christen him "the Nikos Kazantzakis of new-folk," a moniker now proudly flaunted in his press bio.
Producer Larry Campbell -- these days found on the road playing guitar for Baez protege Dylan -- sets Shindell's traditionally- flavored ballads and mid-tempo rockers in sympathetic arrangements that don't overwhelm his yearning vocals, which at times bear an uncanny resemblance to Michael Stipe. Campbell himself -- who also appears on Williams' CD; this is a very incestuous crowd, mind you -- is a multi-instrumental threat, appearing variously on acoustic and electric guitars as well as bouzouki, mandolin, pedal and lap steel and fiddle. Kaplansky helps out on vocal harmonies, and keyboardist Radoslav Lorkovic contributes piano, organ, harmonium and accordion to the mix.
Baez herself has never sounded better than she does on GONE FROM DANGER. Reunited with producers Wally Wilson and Kenny Greenberg, Baez is as always an incredibly sympathetic song-interpreter. She invests knowing pathos into Shindell's "Money For Floods" -- in which a teen-age, unwed mother's plight is put into greater relief by a natural disaster -- and in her hands his "Reunion Hill" becomes a sequel to Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," told from the point of view of Mrs. Virgil Caine, perhaps.
In these two songs and in Shindell's "Fishing," Baez has captured the writer at his best: focusing on downtrodden individuals caught in circumstances far beyond their control, revealing the extraordinary heroism of ordinary life. In the end, it's a tribute both to the writer and the songstress.
Look for Baez to appear locally sometime next winter, with Shindell in the warm-up spot. In the meantime, Williams and Shindell come to Harvard University's Sanders Theater in Cambridge on September 19. Call 496-2222.
Cliff Eberhardt
September 13, December 6Evil far outweighs the good on Cliff Eberhardt's new CD, 12 SONGS OF GOOD AND EVIL (Red House), which is what makes it such a guilty pleasure in a field overflowing with too many goody-two-shoes. Much to its creative and emotional detriment, you don't usually find contemporary folk luxuriating in so much downright BADNESS, in spite of folk's longstanding and honorable tradition of chronicling the seamier side of life. Eberhardt, however, is new-folk's Dante; he eschews any moralizing in his stark, rootsy portraits of characters in the grip of sin -- greed, lust, addiction, thievery, betrayal, whatever. Rather, he allows his narrators to speak for themselves -- to state their case before the jury, as it were. Eberhardt, guilty as charged, testifies in his personal behalf at the Joyful Noise Coffeehouse in Lexington (861-0142) on September 13 and again at Club Passim in Cambridge on December 6 (492-7679).
Brooks Williams
On his seventh album, the brand new SEVEN SISTERS (Redbird/Green Linnet), Northampton-based singer-songwriter Brooks Williams favors the stripped-down sounds of a guitar-bass-drums trio, with occasional electric violin to leaven the mix. His minimalist production approach suits the thematic concerns of the album; songs like "Mother Earth," "Rich Tonight" and the title track speak of shedding excess material baggage in order to reconnect with more lasting values. Williams has long been regarded as one of the finest guitar players on the folk scene, and there's plenty of tasty slide and fingerpicking here to satisfy axe-heads. But Williams, who is the literal son of a preacher man, is also a soul man, and with his vocals, guitar and persona up front and center where they belong, it's impossible to resist getting swept up by the gospel according to Brooks. Williams takes it to church at Club Passim in Cambridge. Call 492-7679.
September 20
Janis Ian
Windham Hill, Janis Ian's new record company, is touting her as an "honorary godmother of the Lilith generation." But with a vital collection of new songs due out later this month, Ian may yet prove to be OF the "Lilith generation" rather than its fairy godmother. For one, HUNGER kicks off with "Searching For America," a stirring, eight-minute opus produced by righteous babe-of-the-moment Ani DiFranco, who also lends bass, samples and backing vocals to the haunting, street-level State of the Union address that would go unrecognized on Capitol Hill. "In Black and White" is a funky, devastating portrait of the sorry state of contemporary race relations, lent greater impact by the fact that three decades after she stunned the world with "Society's Child," her ode to interracial love, Ian is confronting the wholesale breakdown of communication between the races. HUNGER, which comes out on Sept. 30, is filled with such surprises. Folksinger and storytelling legend Rosalie Sorrels joins her at the Somerville Theater. Call 661-1252.
October 17
Suzzy Roche and Lucy Kaplansky
After two decades as part of a trio of singing sisters, Suzzy Roche makes her debut this fall as a solo recording artist and performer. Her CD, "Holy Smokes" (Red House), which comes out next week, features a dozen intimate, bittersweet songs, similar to material by the Roches but given a darker, more personal twist. Roche has traded in her sisters' overt quirkiness for a more nuanced approach to serious topics like mortality and aging, but she retains a lightness of touch familiar to fans of the Roches. Sister Maggie Roche turns up on a few cuts to sing harmony, but this is definitely Suzzy's statement from beginning to end. It's also got one of the best song titles ever: "The Second Coming of Eli." (Think Laura Nyro.) Solo veteran Lucy Kaplansky, who used to tend bar at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village when the Roches were headlining there in the early '80s, shares the bill at Suzzy's coming-out party at the Emerson Umbrella in Concord. Call (508) 369-4127.
November 1
Jonatha Brooke
With her next album, 10-CENT WINGS (Refuge/MCA), billed only as "Jonatha Brooke," the Boston-based singer-songwriter hints that she has finally put The Story behind her. An advance listen to the disk, lushly produced by keyboardist/husband Alain Mallet and due out November 4, shows Brooke stretching her vocal and stylistic muscles on a diverse array of her poetry-imbued, blues-, pop-, art-, jazz- and R&B-inflected compositions. "Last Innocent Year," a sultry, catchy cross between Gal Costa and the Bangles, could well propel Brooke into the top echelon of what Time magazine has somewhat dismissively termed "coffeehouse pop" artists. I'll take mine to go, cream and sugar. Look for a local appearance by Brooke right around the release date.
Early November
Greg Brown
With the passing years, Greg Brown's impossibly gravelly baritone grows even more so, as does his dour, cynical sensibility. It's actually a winning combination that has made him a perennial favorite of the new-folk crowd. The poet laureate of small-town America kicks off his terrific upcoming album, SLANT SIX MIND (Red House) -- due out on October 21 -- with a dystopian eulogy for America called "Whatever It Was," a gloomy catalog of broken dreams and lost promise. "It's been quite a week, there was a drive-by shooting in Lake Wobegon," sings the former cast member of Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion," leading one to wonder if he'll ever be invited back to that dreamy refuge of false sentimentality. Never fear -- his fall gig at the Somerville Theatre is an annual highlight of the Boston folk season. Call (508) 369-4127.
November 15
Patty Larkin
Patty Larkin's latest album, PERISHABLE FRUIT (High Street/Windham Hill), is her most experimental effort to date, an exploration of the various sonic possibilities of stringed instruments. Larkin alone plays national and lap steel, mandolin, bouzouki, acoustic, slide and electric guitars, while others contribute bass, cello and guitar. There's not a drum in sight, but ironically, the stark arrangements feature some of her most rhythmically unconventional songs, with percussion variously provided by thumping and banging on the guitars. "Wolf at the Door" sounds like acoustic Luscious Jackson, and "The Book I'm Not Reading" -- with too-cool filtered vocals -- is ripe and ready radio fodder. With her voice mixed way out front, PERISHABLE FRUIT is a bowlful of intimacy with the Provincetown resident, who headlines at the Somerville Theater. Karen Savoca, the only conga- playing singer-songwriter in new-folk, warms up the crowd for Larkin. Call 661-1252.
November 21[This article originally appeared in the Boston Phoenix on Sept. 11, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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