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Dirty Linen Magazine
Colleen Moore
June 2008
With solid roots in Mississippi and academic credentials in Southern studies, Caroline Herring has a full palette of experience and knowledge, and wouldn’t you know it, a warm, angelic voice, to complete the total too-good-to-be-true package. Lantana is her third album, following Twilight (2003) and Wellspring (2005). Marriage and motherhood have also intervened, with an obvious influence on selections for this latest CD. Herring’s maternal instincts are at their most tender on the traditional lullaby, “All the Pretty Little Horses,” which was memorably covered by Joan Baez on Baptism (1968). Herring’s vocals are clear and lovely, evoking the classic voices of Baez, Collins, and Mitchell, yet grounded in the country dirt of Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Eliza Gilkyson.
Such a sweet voice takes one by surprise on “Paper Gown.” You hear the refrain about the little girl on her daddy’s knee before you comprehend that the song is based on Texas mother Susan Smith, who dispatched her children to God via a ramp into a lake. It’s a scary maternal moment.
Many of Herring’s songs seem to come straight from a traditional canon; it’s hard to believe that they’re products of the 21st century. “Lay My Burden Down,” “States of Grace,” “Fair and Tender Ladies,” and “Song for Fay” have an old-time sensibility that makes for a timeless song. And when Herring takes on a traditional song, “Midnight on the Water,” she turns it into the album highlight indistinguishable musically or thematically from her self-penned work. Herring is a Southern classic, not as well known as she merits, but Lantana is another step into a wider spotlight.
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