Cliff Eberhardt, "Havana" Carbo, Ani DiFranco, Jennifer Kimball
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Feb. 6, 1998) -- If John Gorka is the epitome of the sensitive, new-age guy, then his friend, fellow singer-songwriter and sometime stage partner Cliff Eberhardt just may be his evil twin.

After listening to Eberhardt's latest album, "12 Songs of Good and Evil" (Red House), no one will ever mistake Eberhardt for a guitar- strumming "SNAG." The CD -- which incidentally, this critic considered one of the top 10 of 1997 -- contains a rogues gallery of petty thieves, sadists and criminals -- characters who, for the most part, are morally and emotionally challenged.

Yet, with the deft, artful touch of a Randy Newman, Eberhardt portrays his characters in a manner that makes them attractive rather than repulsive, eliciting sympathy for the misfits while giving voice to life's complexities and ambiguities.

"Nothing is black and white, nothing is good or evil," said Eberhardt in a recent interview. "All my characters have good and all have evil. What I set out to do is question morally what is right and what is wrong."

On his latest album, his fourth, Eberhardt -- who performs this Sunday at 7 at the Old Stone Church House Concert Series in Williamstown -- dramatizes these issues in a dozen three- and four- minute, perfectly-crafted, rootsy folk-pop songs.

"I was thinking along the lines of how we balance our good and evil quotient," said Eberhardt, who is based in the Pioneer Valley and who has toured nationally with the likes of Gorka, Patty Larkin and Cheryl Wheeler. "The typical person will say, yeah, I didn't make my bed, but I did do my homework."

Eberhardt's songs explore issues more weighty than household chores, however. "The Devil In Me" makes vague reference to the sort of "fun" looked down upon by people in a small town; "Carnival Girl" looks back fondly on a wild ride enjoyed by two consenting adults; "Joey's Arms" talks about the stuff Joey likes to inject into them.

Eberhardt doesn't pull punches in his songs, either. "I have written songs that use metaphors and have very poetic images, but the older I get, the more direct I get," he said. A friend once made him a button that read, "Stay bitter, you bastard," advice that is totally understandable upon hearing his "Good Example," a gorgeously venomous hate song in the tradition of Bob Dylan's "Positively Fourth Street."

Eberhardt grew up outside Philadelphia and began performing with his brother when he was 15. By 1978, he had moved to New York, where the folk-club scene was thriving and where he first shared stages with the likes of Gorka, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Lucy Kaplansky, Steve Forbert and the Roches.

Throughout the '80s, Eberhardt gigged steadily, playing his own shows and backing Richie Havens and Melanie on guitar. If his voice is instantly familiar, it could well be because you heard it during those years when Eberhardt sang advertising jingles for Coke, Miller Beer and Chevrolet's "Heartbeat of America" series.

Eberhardt released his first album, "The Long Road," in 1990, and followed it up with "Now You Are My Home" in 1993 and "Mona Lisa Cafe" in 1995.

Meanwhile, it has been a great year for Windsor singer-songwriter Ed Kohn, who will warm up the crowd for Eberhardt at the Old Stone Church. Nationally-known children's act Trout Fishing in America included his song "Six" on their CD "My World" last year. Kohn released "Double Yellow Line" just a few months ago to a flurry of rave reviews, and WAMC's Wanda Fischer has been playing selected songs from the CD on her folk-music program, "Hudson River Sampler."

Call 458-3188 or E-mail DCNent@aol.com for more information or reservations.

"HAVANA" CARBO: A friend passes along the news that Cuban-born jazz vocalist Gladys "Havana" Carbo, formerly of Stockbridge and now of New York City, was recently honored by a leading Brazilian newspaper which placed her CD, "So I'll Dream You Again" (CAP), in its list of the top 10 jazz albums of 1997. Carbo and her trio will perform its mix of Brazilian, Cuban and jazz standards tomorrow night in Great Barrington at the Castle Street Cafe's new Celestial Bar.

BACKSTAGE BITS: Ani DiFranco -- whose upcoming CD, "Little Plastic Castle" (Righteous Babe), is due out on Feb. 17 (look for a review in this space next week) -- will bookend the Berkshires with performances at the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on April 4 and the Palace Theatre in Albany on Albany 10. How about a Berkshire venue grabbing DiFranco for a mid-week gig between those two shows?

Ex-Story vocalist Jennifer Kimball -- who will be performing with Wayfaring Strangers at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown on March 8 -- is currently in a Woodstock, N.Y., studio, where she is putting the finishing touches on her solo debut CD, produced by Story producer Ben Wittman. The CD is due for May release on Imaginary Road, a Polygram imprint headed by Windham Hill founder Will Ackerman, and features backup by Lucy Kaplansky on vocals and former Story guitarist Duke Levine. A listen to some demo tracks for the album suggests that Kimball's debut will be greeted as the statement of a fully-formed artist with a unique voice, yet one that will undoubtedly seem welcome and familiar to fans of The Story.

[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Feb. 6, 1998. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1998. All rights reserved.]