|
Americana Roots
Evan Hodge
March 4, 2008
There's a bubbling current of humane self-confidence that suffuses the notes and words minted with pride by Caroline Herring on Lantana. The singer-songwriter's devotion to the music of her part of America - the rural south - shows through in the confidence to take a traditional love ballad and write a response, her "Fair and Tender Ladies" replies to "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies." If you are aware of the forlorn hope of love in the original, which frames a misogynistic point of view, Herring's tune instead praises the endurance and self-sacrifice of women. It's a pointer to the writer's own life experience, as wife and a mother of two determined not to let her own performing career slide into silence.
Hearing Caroline sing is uplifting, for her artistry is about directness not artifice of technique. Her voice is comforting, of the earth, yet carries you skywards by turns. Her sure-footed resolving melodies ease the listener to take in her words, often tackling harsh reality. Caroline Herring writes with clarity and precision of imagery. Her words sing up portraits, some pen-and-ink ("States of Grace"), some in charcoal drab ("Heartbreak Tonight"), some in a triumphant simplicity of primary colors ("Lay My Burden Down"). Herring can flip the coin of experience so deftly - "Lover Girl" is a delight on every level, while the telling of "Paper Gown" brings a gray shiver. Caroline Herring's effervescent music breathes with space, holding hands with the continuum of what these days is called Americana. Herring's respect for timing the delivery of her lines, in sureness of emotional impact, never leaves the listener marooned for her meaning.
Her supporting musicians pay respect to eight original songs they know are so fine, and do homage to two traditional tunes. It's wonderful to hear the refined and attentive banjo of Danny Barnes, the many flourishes of co-producer Rich Brotherton, spry and soulful upright bass from Glenn Fukunaga, and discrete percussion from both Paul Pearcy and Tom Van Schaik, while Warren Hood's fiddle (and viola) lends echoes from a smoky past that pedal steel player Marty Muse seals with grace. From all concerned, such craft is so well disposed to the material.
It would be a joy to listen to this collection on a long journey, because Caroline Herring has a friendly intimacy that soothes the mind, and the players each give her songs just the right touches to send them to a town called Timeless. One may also get the uplifting feeling that this artist is well started on a long journey of her own. Her documenting of Georgia folk musicians, and her previous academic studies, show how love for the musical language of the past will build her a bridge to a bright and hopeful future.
{return to reviews}
|
