- Robin and Linda Williams
Deeper Waters
Red House Records CD 173
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- By Bonny Holder
 I've
followed Robin and Linda Williams, sometimes literally around
the country, for thirty years. In fact, in the very early
1970s, I saw Robin perform at the long-gone Orpheus coffeehouse
in Rockford, Illinois. That was before he met Linda!
I fell in love with them somewhere around 1976, and listened
to their first vinyl album easily a hundred times. To me, they
were the ultimate romantics. A yankee at that time (lower-case
y), I found their southern accents and rich storytelling-songwriting
abilities, along with their Everly Brothers harmonies, to be
aurally addictive.
When I count up all the music I've seen over the decades,
I'm pretty sure that I've seen Robin & Linda more than any
others. I've driven through midwestern snowstorms, over shimmering
summer highways, once my husband skipped a day of work so I could
see them, an unexpected treat, in Durango, Colorado.
So we have one of those musician-fan relationships whereby
we just pick up the conversation after the show from where we
left off. They've never been to my home in New Mexico, and I've
never been to theirs, in Virginia. Occasionally we have shared
food and spirits, in restaurants and bars. We've seen each other
gain weight, lose weight, get cool haircuts, lose hair, I've
seen them through several traveling dogs, and they've seen me
through several geographical moves. In the time I've known Robin
& Linda, they have both had their appendixes (appendi?) removed,
and have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
I adore them. When I first knew them, genius string musician
Peter Ostroushko played with them, and later, Jim Watson from
the original Red Clay Ramblers. I saw them a dozen times with
Watson and Kevin McNoldy. I have yet to hear the band with mandolinist
Jimmy Gaudreau, but I can't wait the man's played with
bluegrass legend J.D. Crowe for years!
The amazing thing is, they keep getting better and better.
That should always be the case, but let's face it, often, it
isn't. Robin's voice has gotten clearer and stronger, and Linda's
clawhammer banjo skills have been perfected, their stage act
is witty and smart, and the 200 years they spent as frequent
guests on Prairie Home Companion hasn't hurt their
spontaneity.
But they didn't quite, quite record as well as they performed.
Almost, but not quite. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the
real lively personalities of Robin and Linda his humor,
her strength, their amazing unity of perfect timing didn't
come across to me on my stereo speakers. Sometimes Linda's voice
recorded a tad on the shrill side, which I've never heard live.
I wondered if they were ever going to capture their unique chemistry
on tape.
I'm happy to announce that, finally, they have..
Deeper Waters is their first record on Bob Feldman's
Red House Records, out of Minneapolis. Feldman, over the past
twenty-five years, has managed to put out some of the most important
and memorable CDs in Americana music, starting with Greg Brown,
Davy Moore, Prudence Johnson, now including Lucy Kaplansky, Pieta
Brown and Bo Ramsey, Peter Ostroushko, Eliza Gilkyson and a raft
of others.
Appearing as background singers on Deeper Waters are
Iris Dement, Sissy Spacek and her daughter Schuyler Fisk (neighbors
of the Williams'), Mary Chapin Carpenter (Robin officiated at
her recent marriage ceremony) and guitarist Mike Auldridge. Impressive
group! Also John Jennings plays guitar on "Old Plank Road,"
Ricky Simpkins contributes fiddle, and Mark Schatz plays acoustic
bass.
Robin & Linda Williams seem like a perfect fit for Red
House, and this new CD is unlike anything else they've ever done.
Leaving the drums off was a good move! But there is more to the
new sound than that. 11 of the 12 tracks on the album are original
songs, though three have been previously recorded by the duo
and their Fine Group.
 I e-mailed them, asked them all
kinds of questions about this fresh production, and here's what
Linda had to say. (Robin was spending his cold morning making
sure the pipes in their ancient Middlebrook farm house didn't
freeze and crack in the sub-zero January temperatures.)
Me: Linda! Why the label change?
Linda: We'd been with Sugar Hill a long time and the company
had gone through some changes in the last few years. In the past
year or two, the Durham office became less and less included
in decisions about artists and, even though our last CD, Visions
of Love, was our best selling CD, the decision came from
California that our contract would not be renewed when it came
up a year or so ago.
At first we felt kind of sad, as we were comfortable with
the label and had long term friends in the Durham office. But
after about 15 minutes of that, we could see that it was a good
opportunity for us to do something new. Change is often good,
and we began to feel like we needed a change, but we were just
so comfortable with Sugar Hill we didn't realize it.
After checking out several alternatives, we settled on Red
House. We felt like we fit in with their roster, even though
they don't have anyone exactly like us. They were very supportive
and interested from the get go. The deal was sort of sealed when
we did a show in Minneapolis last spring and almost the whole
office from the label turned out to see us. They loved the show,
which included some of the songs we'd recently written and planned
to record on the next CD. They have been great to work with.
Very involved and helpful, yet they always defer to us when decisions
need to be made. A couple of people there are old friends too
so it doesn't feel like a completely brand new relationship.
There is an excitement and enthusiasm for us there and they believe
in us and want to help us sell some CDs.
Me: On your past albums, I've felt like you were right in
the room, but on Deeper Waters, it sounded like you are
singing right to me. And the song selection is very intimate.
Linda: I wanted these songs to be very close and personal.
I wanted them to be our voice. I wanted them to be songs I thought
people would like to hear. I was pretty adamant about what was,
and was not, included. I wanted them to be accessible. I wanted
them to be good.
The older ones were ones that we wanted to give another chance..
Just didn't feel like we got them the first time around and we
had good ideas about how to change them. With "Whippoorwill,"
we wrote a bridge which we decided it was badly in need of, while
working it up for a Prairie Home Companion show in
North Dakota. After we got the bridge, it gave us a new interest
in the song.
I've always loved "Leaving This Land," and had my
own ideas about how to sing it and Robin liked them, and let
me have it. We have always wanted to make "Annie" a
banjo song, and a little more introspective. In any case, the
new ones fit the criteria that I had set out originally. There
were songs that didn't, and we left them out. The new songs were
also written and arranged with the current lineup of the Fine
Group in mind, written to be good vehicles for performing as
a band. I think we accomplished that, too.
Me: You've had, what, twenty previous albums? How does it
feel to add one more? Is it still exciting to you?
Linda: Robin and I counted up 17 albums, but we could be wrong.
I see this one as another chance to get it right. We try to build
on what we've done in the past, you know, take what we liked
from other projects and try to bring that to the new one, and
try to eliminate what we didn't like from past projects.
It's never easy to record. It's not what we do professionally.
We play live, and there is a difference in the way things sound
live and on tape. Luckily, we have found a good producer, Kevin
McNoldy, who helps us overcome the problems and settle into recording.
Also, most of these were brand new songs, or brand new looks
at older original songs. Sometimes it's hard to get the right
feel. Again, Kevin worked with us and gave us a few second chances
to help us get a feel on all the songs. We always have a time
restraints, due to budget, and so you just have to move on after
a while.
I feel we captured all these songs. I feel like the songs
all hang together as a whole. I'm behind all of the material.
I think when people come to see us who have heard this recording,
it will sound like us, and vice versa. What I mean is, when people
come to see us and then hear the recording, it will sound like
what they heard live.
Of course, in many ways the CD is a jumping off point. The
songs, arrangements, and performances will change and evolve
from what's on the CD. But I can sit and listen to this one and
not feel like we missed on "this" song or "that"
song. I feel like we got them all. I felt like that on the last
one too, but this one is different. There are more chances to
miss when it's all so new.
Me: What's ahead for you this year?
Linda: A perfect 2004 would be good health, good gigs, good
crowds, good traveling, time off to plant a garden and enjoy
it, enough but not too much rain, and to get the buzz that
money can't buy going for us in the world of music.
Me: In my opinion, you've just released the best album of
your career. Will you tour to support it?
Linda: 30 years on the road is hard to fathom. But we know
how to do it, and do it well. That much we have learned! The
road comes with the territory when you play music for a living,
so it's good that we do it well and can enjoy it when we're out.
Performing is the most fun. A closeness develops with the
band, on stage and off, when we're out on tour and that's fun,
too. Of course it's tiring. That's a given. You never seem to
get enough rest, and that's something you just learn to live
with. We've done some of our best shows on no sleep after driving
all night.
It's a good thing it's easier now than in the old days, because,
if it was as hard as we used to make it, we'd probably be dead.
These days we have a good vehicle with plenty of room to stretch
out and rest while we're driving, and the band helps with some
of the responsibilities, like driving, navigating, handling the
merchandise, etc, etc. Everyone has their little job and they
do it well. And we are not gone for as many long periods of time
as we were in the old days. We'll do one long trip to the west
coast every year, but after that it's a lot of weekend work or
a couple or weekends strung together with work during the week.
We are fortunate that we all get along and get to work together.
So no matter where we go, there we are - sort of. And being able
to bring our dog, Luke. A dog makes it all the more like home.
www.robinandlinda.com
www.redhouserecords.com
You can contact Bonny Holder at bonny-at-rockzilla.net
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