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- Eliza Gilkyson
Land of Milk and Honey
Red House CD 174
- By Bonny Holder
 When
I say, "this is a record of conscience and, many times,
gravitas," you might get the wrong impression about Eliza
Gilkyson's recent Red House release, Land of Milk and Honey.
You might think that the record is not a pleasure to listen
to. So let's get that out of the way. Ms. Gilkyson has never
sounded more melodic, more expressive, or more interesting.
Some people are calling her a "late bloomer," as
in "where has she been all my life?" but she's actually
a seasoned road warrior, daughter of legendary songwriter Terry
Gilkyson. Are you old enough to remember "Memories Are
Made of This," "The Bare Necessities," "All
Day, All Night, Marianne (down by the seaside, siftin' sand)?"
How about "Greenfields," from John Wayne's The
Alamo? And get this! "My Heart Knows What The Wild
Goose Knows," Frankie Laine recorded that. Terry wrote
all those, and more. OW!
Eliza's brother, Tony, played in the infamous L.A. band, X.
Her sister, Nancy, sings background on this album. Her son,
the talented percussionist Cisco Ryder, has a finger in every
song. So when Eliza gets up to the mic, she's informed by a
saturated history of America music. She has an ear for the sweet
arrangement, the instrumental surprise, the drawl and the whisper.
But this is a record of conscience and, many times,
gravitas. The first track, "Hiway 9," has Slaid Cleaves
singing harmony and Rob Gjersoe on national steel. Does this
sentiment ring a political bell?
Well, the white god said to the little man
we're gonna fulfill scripture in the holy land
between the Tigris and Euphrates, it's a lot like hell
go on and liberate my people and the o-i-l.
Got your big trucks rollin' down hiway 9
put on the armor, it's party time
gonna dance with the devil of our own design
get your big trucks rollin' down hiway 9.
If y'all don't want to hear stuff like this in song, you probably
won't want to buy this CD.
But for the l-word brave, the second track articulates Ms.
Gilkyson's personal politics. "I am a one-man woman,"
she sings. "I live one day at a time. I keep one
eye open. I got a one-track mind. I'm a one-trick pony, living
in a one-horse town. People say I should be lonely, but that
ain't what's going down. I'm alone but I'm not lonely."
"Dark Side of Town," written by Eliza and Nancy
Gilkyson, is about their songwriter father. "He loved
that funky music," they sing together, while the subject
plays drums behind them, and Jon Dee Graham and Stephen Bruton
add harmony. "He knew the back road scenes, every barbeque
and blues band between here and New Orleans. He put down the
bottle, October '89, eased up on the throttle, bought him a little
time. But he was a midnight rider, he burned that candle down..."
In "Tender Mercies," a beautiful song, the subject
of the title is every mother's dream for her children. "Across
the world she tapes explosives to her chest, steps into a shopping
mall. A life devoid of all of mercy's tenderness really isn't
any life at all," she sings.
"Wonderland" begins with the same line one of her
father's most well-known "folk songs:" "Take
off your old coat," she sings, and although you may
expect "and roll up your sleeves, life is a hard road to
travel, I believe," she takes another route. "Take
off your dark cloud, shake off your reservations, come play with
me," she pleads.
The grittiest song is "Ballad of Yvonne Johnson,"
co-written with someone named that. In this song, she tells
a life story, and it's not a pretty life. "My name is
Yvonne Johnson, my native blood is Cree, I'm here to tell the
story of the life stolen from me." She continues.
"Raised up in a reckless world of drugs and alcohol,
the police killed my brother Earl, the only one who cared at
all. Cleft palate split my face in two, no surgery could repair.
I lived in shame and ridicule, foundations of despair."
I won't spoil the story for you, but prepare to be provoked.
Gilkyson's voice takes on a plaintive, lonely tone in this song.
Mark Hallman did a terrific production job, and well-known
Austin musicians Rich Brotherton and Patty Griffin lend their
talents, as does Iris Dement, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Jon
Dee Graham. The four women sing like larks on Woody Guthrie's
"Peace Call," which also includes Glenn Fukinaga on
upright bass, and Fats Kaplan on fiddle.
If you are ready to hear something a little heavy, but a whole
lot wonder-ful, slip Land of Milk and Honey into the CD
changer. You'll wonder where Eliza Gilkyson has been for the
first part of your life.
www.elizagilkyson.com
You can contact Bonny Holder at bonny-at-rockzilla.net
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