- Caroline Herring
- wellspring
Blue Corn Music BCM0302
by Bonny Holder
 It
is rare to find a CD as completely satisfying on first, and subsequent,
listens as "wellspring" by Caroline Herring. Her smooth,
keening alto voice washes over the listener like Tupelo honey,
and the spare, tasteful arrangements by Rich Brotherton frame
her songs so perfectly that the intelligence of her lyrics is
almost subtle.
In other words, there is nothing not to like about this album.
Ms. Herring, according to the bio on her website, is "originally
from Canton, Mississippi, Herring came to Austin in 1999 to pursue
a Ph.D. in American Studies but found herself equally as drawn
to the city's rich musical culture. Encouraged by bluegrass legend
Peter Rowan and local luminaries like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Tish
Hinojosa, Herring began honing the songwriting and performing
talents she'd developed while earning a Master's in Southern
Studies at Ole Miss. She recorded a demo, sent it to club owners
all over town, and found one taker: Stubb's Bar-B-Q, which offered
her a three-week trial happy hour gig. This turned into two years
of weekly Thursday shows, and that's where Denby Auble, the founder
of Blue Corn Music, eventually discovered the soul-stirring talent
he'd been seeking to christen his new label."
Herring was named Best New Artist by the Austin American-Statesman
in January, 2002, then took home Best New Artist honors at the
Austin Music Awards that March during the SXSW.
At the same time, her day job was also impressive: working
for Texas Folklife in Austin, accompanying traditional Tejano
musicians to performances and shows.
Marriage took her away from Austin in 2002, following her
husband's academic pursuits to Washington D.C., and currently
to Atlanta. It seems like all these landscapes and experiences
make Herring's music all the richer. She is steeped in tradition,
but with the ear of a woman in the 21st century.
The standout song on the CD is "Mortified," where
Herring sings:
I should have been ashamed
Should have been mortified
I should have hung my head
Dug me a hole, and climbed inside
Cause I was able
But the crumbs from the table
kept me satisfied
"Do I sound mean? Do I sound rude?" She implores.
"Do you think me petty, think me cruel? Was I in love
with you or you or you or you?? I tried to be so true, so true."
In "Colorado Woman", she sings, "Tonight
I want to be a strong Colorado woman, I don't want to be your
Mississippi girl. There are times I need you to hold on, but
there are times I got to hold onto myself."
A song called "Mistress" is interesting from a historical
view. I don't know Caroline Herring, so I don't know if this
was her intent, but the song brings, to my ear, the legend of
Emily Morgan, the pretty slave who supposedly tried to seduce
Generalissimo Santa Anna in order to buy time for the Tejanos
at the Alamo:
You can read all our names in the records
You can deny all the days as they go down
There's a brick-laid pathway calling you to find us
Underneath a golf course in an east Texas town.
Oh, Rachel, won't you lie next to me
Tonight and every night to come
Won't you calm all that's raging inside me
Cause outside's just a battlefield Santa Anna won.
The players on this wonderful album include Herring on vocals
and acoustic guitar; Brotherton on guitars, mandola, glass harmonica,
dulcimer and vocals; Bryn and Billy Bright; and a host of other
Austin luminaries including Kelly Willis singing harmony on "Magnolia",
Jeff Plankenhorn on dobro, and Eamon McLoughlin on fiddle and
viola.
You want to hear this CD. But don't just take my word for
it! Rockzillaworld reviewer Scott Snidow reviewed Caroline Herring's
previous CD, twilight, and here's what he said:
(http://rockzilla.net/scott38.html)
"So if the music of Caroline Herring is so exceptional,
why haven't you heard of her or caught her music on the local
radio stations? Excellent question. One that I don't have the
answer for. What I can tell you is that this is good country
music, pure, fresh, as earthy as that black sod on the back forty.
It flows forth as freely from Herring as the Mississippi rushing
to meet the Gulf of Mexico. This is everything that is good and
right about the Americana music movement that has been sweeping
the nation over the last few years. This is music with content,
plain and simple."
Ditto for wellspring.
www.CarolineHerring.com
You can contact Bonny Holder at bonny-at-rockzilla.net
|
