9/16/99: Chris Huff, Catie Curtis
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Sept. 16, 99) --

Chris Huff: Folk music to blow your house down

Some of the best, new singer-songwriters of the decade - people like Ani DiFranco, Dan Bern and Jim Infantino of Jim's Big Ego - look beyond the immediate pop-folk formula that's been passed down for decades and embrace a wider view of what the literate song-form can be. They realize that underneath the Talking Heads punk-funk, the Beastie Boys white-rap, and Elvis Costello's new-wave rock are well-crafted, intelligent songs that rely on wit and verbal sophistication to talk about contemporary life.

"For the singer-songwriter, live music is making a little comeback," said up-and-coming, New York-based singer-songwriter Chris Huff, in a recent E-mail interview. "I think you have a group of people raised on styles of music played by bands who can't afford a band. I think it will be interesting to watch what singer-songwriters do with the new electronic technology now that it has become affordable for the average Joe. Beck has already led the way, but he's only really scratched the surface of possibilities, I think."

The songs on Huff's album, "North Cathedral Way" (Magic Dragon), come from a sensibility formed as much by the dark angst-rock of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain even gets a name-check in the first song, "Ball and Chain"), the street-rock of Lou Reed and the art-rock of David Bowie, along with more typical influences for acoustic guitar-strumming singers such as Bob Dylan, to whom Huff pays tribute on "Talking Benadryl Blues," a clever, vintage Dylan-style talking blues about the over-the-counter antihistamine.

"Frankly, I'm not really a fan of a lot of the music that falls under the category of 'folk,'" said Huff. "Harry Smith's anthology -- now that's what I call folk music. I have an internal resistance to music that most people would call 'normal.' Saying that, I can already contradict myself, for there are certain James Taylor songs that do it for me just as well as anything by Captain Beefheart, Robyn Hitchcock, Beck, or Tom Waits.

"Generally speaking, though, the people that made me want to play the guitar and write songs were bizarros like Ric Ocasek and David Byrne, where you weren't necessarily sure that you knew what they were singing about but they brought you some kind of alternate reality."

In a statement on his web page (http://huff.iuma.com), Huff wrote, "Growing up in New York, I was exposed to more types of music than the average songwriter. There was rap literally happening on the street corner, all my high school friends were into reggae, and I took classical piano and jazz bass lessons while listening to Rush, the Police, Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead."

As a result, Huff's music, which he calls "urban surrealism," ranges from bluesy guitar-and-harmonica tunes like "The Night Café" to more dramatic, Bowie-style rockers like "It's All a Game" to polished, Crosby, Stills and Nash-style ballads like "Laura." "North Cathedral Way" was recorded in New York by Huff's acoustic rock trio, with John Delia on upright bass and Storm Cloud on djembe.

"There are so many more recordings available now with the advent of digital technology, recordings that the greats would have given anything to have had access to when they were starting out," said Huff. "The options sometimes are almost overwhelming for a young person starting out, trying to find an original voice and style. So much has been done before, and is available for purchase in box set form."

Chris Huff will perform songs from "North Cathedral Way" and several new compositions in a solo acoustic performance on Saturday, Sept. 18, at Spencertown (N.Y.) Academy at 8. Call (518) 392-3693 for more info.

Catie Curtis: Pop-folk with a big-bottom back-beat

Catie Curtis's new CD, "A Crash Course in Roses" (Rykodisc), opens with some surprisingly phat, phunky, hip-hop-inflected drumbeats, but as soon as she starts singing "Gave Me Love" you're in familiar, Lilith Fair-style folk-pop territory.

Curtis's latest album is full of catchy, rootsy tunes, colored by Duke Levine's mandolins and guitars, Paul Bryan's bass and djembe, Curtis's guitar and keyboards and, of course, her rich, organic vocals. As a singer, Curtis ranks with Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Story's Jennifer Kimball, both of whom are on hand to lend harmonies.

"What's the Matter," a plea for tolerance for diversity, is also juiced with state-of-the-art jeep beats, and "Fall Away," another melodic, upbeat pop tune, is also powered by some rocking drumbeats - both are radio-ready. Curtis's penchant for arranging her songs with a big bottom comes as less of a surprise once you learn that before she was a singer-songwriter she was a drummer.

The Lilith Fair veteran, who won the Best Album award from the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA), is at the Iron Horse in Northampton this Saturday at 7. Call (413) 586-8686 for more info.

Backstage bits

Who says summer is over? Over in Northampton the festival season continues with a reggae festival this Saturday, Sept. 18, at Pines Theater in Look Park, featuring Burning Spear, Black Uhuru veteran Michael Rose, Andrew "Son of Peter" Tosh, former Bob Marley sideman George "Fully" Fullwood and the Pioneer Valley's own Black Rebels. Then on Sunday, the Electric Mind Festival comes to the Pines Theater, featuring a lineup of groove bands including Max Creek, Deep Banana Blackout, John Scofield, Tony Vacca World Rhythms and a psychedelic light show (oh wow, man!) by Optical Delusions. For both shows grounds open at noon, music runs from 2 to 10, tickets are $25, and kids under 12 get in free. Call (413) 586-8686 for more info. And by the way, summer doesn't end until next Tuesday….

The Nobel Prize for Cooperation in Concert Programming goes to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. Both institutions had scheduled blues-based acts to perform on the same night, Oct. 16?, but they have since averted potential disaster by combining forces. As now planned, Duke Robillard and Guy Clark will each perform at MoCA that night. Credit also goes to the performers, who had to agree to the switch. Now, about this nagging problem in Northern Ireland….

If you loved Branford Marsalis so much at Tanglewood a few weeks ago - or if you missed him -- you can see him again next Wednesday, Sept. 22, at the Troy (N.Y.) Savings Bank Music Hall. Call (518) 273-0038.

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Sept. 16, 1999. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1999. All rights reserved.]