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WILLIAMSTOWN
Cormac McCarthy (the folksinger, not the novelist) has always been known for his intimate portraits of small town life. But on last year's ``Picture Gallery Blues'' (Green Linnet/Redbird), McCarthy reached a new level of intimacy on 10 original compositions.
The aptly-titled album opens up to reveal to the careful listener beautiful gems like ``Light at the Top of the Stairs,'' in which an accident makes the narrator see his life and his town in an entirely new way, but perhaps too late. ``Last Ditch'' likewise finds transcendence in the mere struggle to survive.
McCarthy was Bill Morrissey's college roommate, and the two used to play in bars together in the '70s. Morrissey lends his writing talent to one number on the disk, which also features contributions from Paul Geremia, Patty Larkin, Cliff Eberhardt and Johnny Cunningham.
``I think of my songwriting like method acting,'' McCarthy told us in a 1994 interview. ``I try to get in character and figure out what the character would say.''
McCarthy will spin some of his narrative magic tonight at 8 at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. Ed Kohn, the Berkshires' answer to Tom Paxton, will warm up the crowd for McCarthy in this first show of the 1996 Birch Tree Concert series. For more information call 623-5526.
I first caught her with the Cyclone Rangers at the original Warehouse Ball at Mass MoCA back about five years ago, when she kept a somewhat stiff, well-dressed crowd up on its feet and boogieing late into the night.
A few years later, she was at SPAC playing fiddle and accordion and harmonica in John Mellencamp's band. A backstage chat with her that night revealed that she had served similarly behind Billy Joel, Joe Jackson, Steely Dan and the Hooters.
Then a couple of weeks ago at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, there she was again, this time playing behind Carly Simon. Simon brought Jostyn out front for a few songs, and even turned over the microphone to her at one point when she performed one of her own songs. Simon also pitched Jostyn's solo debut, ``Five Miles From Hope,'' to the audience of high-rollers. Simon appears on the album, along with Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and The Band's Garth Hudson.
Whether she is dazzling audiences as a multi-instrumentalist backing up a major star, performing her own, Lisa Germano-like alternative folk-rock, or fronting her party band, the Cyclone Rangers, playing familiar dance tunes _ as she will be doing tomorrow night _ Jostyn is always full of surprises.
Self-described ``Soon to be extra super famous folk songstress'' Ratsy _ who may well deserve her moniker, judging from the witty, well-written songs on her self-produced CD, ``Squished Under a Train'' _ performs at ``CC's Cafe'' in the Sullivan Lounge at the Campus Center of North Adams State College tomorrow night at 8. Admission is free.
Over in Albany, the Eighth Step Coffeehouse presents ``A Duo of Trios'' tonight. The early show features the female folk trio of Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, and Cindy Mangsen of nearby Bennington, Vt., who just released a new duo album, ``The Light of the Day,'' with her husband, Steve Gillette. The women will be followed by the all-male trio of Pierce Pettis, Chuck Brodsky and Greg Greenway, the last of whom recently released the excellent ``Singing For the Landlord'' (Eastern Front), featuring his dynamic, pop-folk-gospel compositions.
In Northampton, the Iron Horse boasts a weekend of top-notch singer- songwriters, starting tonight at 7 with perennial folk-blues favorite Chris Smither, whose recent album ``Up On the Lowdown'' (Hightone) shows that Smither's own songwriting talent stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Bob Dylan, Randy Newman and Jesse Winchester. Tomorrow night the Iron Horse boasts a double-bill of Cliff Eberhardt and Darden Smith at 7. Eberhardt's recent album, ``Mona Lisa Cafe'' (Shanachie), shows why he is widely regarded as a ``songwriter's songwriter.'' After Canadian folksinger Lucie Blue Tremblay performs on Sunday night at 7, the Iron Horse takes on a New Orleans flavor, celebrating Mardi Gras during the week with shows by Beausoleil on Monday, Terrance Simien on Thursday, and Buckwheat Zydeco on Feb. 26.
(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Feb. 9, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.)
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