"A Sister's Bond Beyond Music"
By: Carole Perkins
Published by: Go Triad
Thursday, November 12 2009
From the deep Southern roots of Athens, Ga., where resurrected bottles of Milk of Magnesia line weathered porch railings and rocking chairs sway with the cadence of katydids, comes a band whose music is as enchanting as their name.
Hope For Agoldensummer is a folk trio comprised of sisters Claire and Page Campbell and friend Deb Davis. While the acoustic guitar is the center of their music, whimsical instruments ring and whistle, from xylophone to singing saw to slide whistle and some occasional knee-slapping. Claire's and Page's harmonies float together effortlessly as they conjure images of the South: drinking on rooftops and dancing with the moon, shooting Coke bottles and driving I-85, and writing goodbye love letters.
"Page and I are very close," Claire said. "We don't have to communicate with words much on stage. Part of that is because we are sisters, but it's also partly because we've been playing together for eight years. After a while, you don't have to say things on stage. You can just look at each other and know where you want the harmony to go."
The Campbells' father played in various bands in Georgia and encouraged the girls to play guitar early. Page started playing guitar about age 14 and Claire, at 16. Claire says she "finally picked up a guitar when my dad stopped trying to get me to play." She eventually put a solo album out, "Golden Summer."
"I was having a terrible summer, so I guess the name was sort of sarcastic. I formed another band for a couple of years and when it broke up I started Hope For Agoldensummer. At that point is wasn't about being sarcastic; it was about real hope."
In addition to making her own lye soap and swinging on low-flying trapezes for strength and flexibility, Claire's favorite activity is being a doula, a "precursor" to a midwife who helps women during and after childbirth.
Claire writes songs only about three or four times a year when "real inspiration strikes like major events that are tragic or happy," she says. "Or, I'll hear someone else's story and be inspired by that. I do a lot of plagiarizing from my friend's letters. I'll take phrases and turn them into songs. I consider anything anybody says to be fair game."
Claire is 32 years old, a six-year difference between younger sister Page, who idolized Claire growing up and wanted to do everything she did, including playing the guitar.
"It's great working with my sister," Page says. "I can't imagine what my life would be without her because she's always been there. I think I kind of took her for granted until we started making music together, and then it all happened so naturally."
When Page isn't working her day job at a coffee shop, swinging with Claire on trapezes, or baking vegan cookies, she plays in two other bands, Creepy and Sea of Dogs. She is also working on a musical project tentatively called Rising Sign with her "man," Dan Donahue.
Despite Page's musical gifts, she says her proudest accomplishment is creating a video called, "Katelina," soon after leaving art video school in Chicago. In the video, quasi-psychedelic images paint the story of the sisters' close relationship.
"I never intended to do anything with that video when I wrote it," Page says. "Then some years later, a friend said he wanted to make a video of us so we pulled it out and made it into a music video.
"I think it's about finding ways to take care of each other and being women who need each other."
I addition to their two other albums, this month Hope For Agoldensummer will release a live CD, "Hours in the Attic," recorded mostly in Claire's attic.
"We had friends come over to act as a studio audience," Claire says. "It has 16 songs, mainly the ones most requested in our shows plus a couple of new ones."
In the spring, the band will tour extensively to promote a studio CD.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Jill Andrews: She's confident, and it shows
Thursday, October 15 (updated 8:26 am)
By Carole Perkins
Jill Andrews stands like an apparition in the spotlight's orb on stage at The Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte. She takes her time adjusting the strings on her acoustic guitar as she introduces herself and band member Josh Oliver.
Andrews is wearing the same boots she wore as former lead female singer for the everybodyfields band, but she has shed her timid demeanor of the girl next door. Stepping to the mike is a confident woman with a new husband, baby, band and EP in tow.
With a voice so angelic and voluminous it seems to fill the empty spaces in the rafters, Andrews sings:
"Say you're tired/ say you're busy/ you can lie to me/ it should come easy/ for you have been doing it for a while/ look away when I'm talking/ please don't say what you're thinking/ you have been thinking for a while."
The lyrics to "Worth Keeping" set the tone for her new self-titled EP, a stirring compilation of quintessential Andrews' penned songs, redolent in somber imagery and resonating with the universal vassals of loneliness and unrequited love. Josh Oliver delivers a stellar keyboard performance, while Robert Richard's lead guitar, Vince Ilagan's bass and Chad Melton's drums meld into a unique sound that becomes first cousin to the everybodyfields.
Back in the dressing room, Andrews sits on a sofa and talks about starting over with a new band.
"I feel humbled," she says. "It drives me a little bit and gives me more ambition because I know I have a lot of work to do. With the everybodyfields, we worked so hard and toured so much we didn't even have friends. I don't necessarily want that life again at all because now I have a family."
Andrews and her husband/manager, Clinton, met at an everybodyfields show in Knoxville, Tenn., where they now live with baby boy, Nico, almost 5 months old.
"When I first saw him, I thought to myself, 'I have to meet this guy,'" Andrews says. "He was wearing some pretty standout clothing. He had really tight jeans and a really, really tight shirt. So I went up to him and said, 'Hi, I'm Jill Andrews.' He looked at me and said, 'I know who you are.' Then we just started hanging out. He's a great guy."
Andrews and Sam Quinn, former lead male singer for the everybodyfields and Andrews' ex-boyfriend, created three artistically compelling CDs as the everybodyfields, amassing a loyal fan base that was crushed to learn of the split. Their last official show was New Year's Eve. Deciding not to release a fourth album as the everybodyfields, Andrews took her songs and used three on her new EP.
"With the everybodyfields, we kind of knew it was the end, but we waited to tell everybody else. Our personalities were as different as our voices, and we couldn't agree on most things except how much we loved singing together," she says of the duo whose dovetail harmonies have been compared to Emmylou Harris and the late Gram Parsons.
"It's a lot like divorce; it's very hard. But at the same time Sam and I are still very much in contact. He sent me a text message while I was on stage tonight," she laughs.
"I definitely wish the best for him. Sam is incredibly talented, and I've always known that."
Andrews says she's definitely not opposed to a future reunion, although right now she wants to "see what's out there."
"We've only gone out on one tour," she says. "Nico was with us and I swear, he is just the best baby in the world. He sleeps through the night and hardly ever cries. Everyone in my band is so helpful. Like, we'll stop at a gas station and I'll take Nico out of his car seat to feed him and everybody will say do you need anything?" Andrews says. "My family is very supportive of me and they're going to be on the road with me. We're going to make it work as much as we can."
She says natural childbirth when Nico was born gave her more confidence as a woman ---- and a singer.
"I feel like I've found my voice," she says. "I haven't had it long, maybe for about a year. I really don't know where it came from because I was so timid with my voice and my personality. It was probably everyone's encouragement. It just builds and builds."
Clinton walks into the room and perches on the armrest, snuggling in while Andrews talks about her new life.
"I'm really proud of her," he says. "You can tell she's really captured her own voice, and she's ambitious enough and strong enough to do something about it. I think her heart has a lot to share, and I'm proud of her for doing it."
Asked if the love song, "City Noise," from her new EP was inspired by Clinton, Andrews just smiles.
"I feel like the ceiling is going to fall in anytime now. I am lucky," she says. "I am so lucky."
By Carole Perkins
Jill Andrews stands like an apparition in the spotlight's orb on stage at The Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte. She takes her time adjusting the strings on her acoustic guitar as she introduces herself and band member Josh Oliver.
Andrews is wearing the same boots she wore as former lead female singer for the everybodyfields band, but she has shed her timid demeanor of the girl next door. Stepping to the mike is a confident woman with a new husband, baby, band and EP in tow.
With a voice so angelic and voluminous it seems to fill the empty spaces in the rafters, Andrews sings:
"Say you're tired/ say you're busy/ you can lie to me/ it should come easy/ for you have been doing it for a while/ look away when I'm talking/ please don't say what you're thinking/ you have been thinking for a while."
The lyrics to "Worth Keeping" set the tone for her new self-titled EP, a stirring compilation of quintessential Andrews' penned songs, redolent in somber imagery and resonating with the universal vassals of loneliness and unrequited love. Josh Oliver delivers a stellar keyboard performance, while Robert Richard's lead guitar, Vince Ilagan's bass and Chad Melton's drums meld into a unique sound that becomes first cousin to the everybodyfields.
Back in the dressing room, Andrews sits on a sofa and talks about starting over with a new band.
"I feel humbled," she says. "It drives me a little bit and gives me more ambition because I know I have a lot of work to do. With the everybodyfields, we worked so hard and toured so much we didn't even have friends. I don't necessarily want that life again at all because now I have a family."
Andrews and her husband/manager, Clinton, met at an everybodyfields show in Knoxville, Tenn., where they now live with baby boy, Nico, almost 5 months old.
"When I first saw him, I thought to myself, 'I have to meet this guy,'" Andrews says. "He was wearing some pretty standout clothing. He had really tight jeans and a really, really tight shirt. So I went up to him and said, 'Hi, I'm Jill Andrews.' He looked at me and said, 'I know who you are.' Then we just started hanging out. He's a great guy."
Andrews and Sam Quinn, former lead male singer for the everybodyfields and Andrews' ex-boyfriend, created three artistically compelling CDs as the everybodyfields, amassing a loyal fan base that was crushed to learn of the split. Their last official show was New Year's Eve. Deciding not to release a fourth album as the everybodyfields, Andrews took her songs and used three on her new EP.
"With the everybodyfields, we kind of knew it was the end, but we waited to tell everybody else. Our personalities were as different as our voices, and we couldn't agree on most things except how much we loved singing together," she says of the duo whose dovetail harmonies have been compared to Emmylou Harris and the late Gram Parsons.
"It's a lot like divorce; it's very hard. But at the same time Sam and I are still very much in contact. He sent me a text message while I was on stage tonight," she laughs.
"I definitely wish the best for him. Sam is incredibly talented, and I've always known that."
Andrews says she's definitely not opposed to a future reunion, although right now she wants to "see what's out there."
"We've only gone out on one tour," she says. "Nico was with us and I swear, he is just the best baby in the world. He sleeps through the night and hardly ever cries. Everyone in my band is so helpful. Like, we'll stop at a gas station and I'll take Nico out of his car seat to feed him and everybody will say do you need anything?" Andrews says. "My family is very supportive of me and they're going to be on the road with me. We're going to make it work as much as we can."
She says natural childbirth when Nico was born gave her more confidence as a woman ---- and a singer.
"I feel like I've found my voice," she says. "I haven't had it long, maybe for about a year. I really don't know where it came from because I was so timid with my voice and my personality. It was probably everyone's encouragement. It just builds and builds."
Clinton walks into the room and perches on the armrest, snuggling in while Andrews talks about her new life.
"I'm really proud of her," he says. "You can tell she's really captured her own voice, and she's ambitious enough and strong enough to do something about it. I think her heart has a lot to share, and I'm proud of her for doing it."
Asked if the love song, "City Noise," from her new EP was inspired by Clinton, Andrews just smiles.
"I feel like the ceiling is going to fall in anytime now. I am lucky," she says. "I am so lucky."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Preview to the Avett Brother’s CD, I and Love and You. Original Copy
Carole Perkins
Sept. 14, 2009
Since signing to record label, American, in July 2008, The Avett Brothers have hurdled like juggernauts; as opening act for the Dave Matthews Band, named a Best New Artist to watch by Rolling Stone, gracing the cover of Paste Magazine, approved by Oprah Winfrey, mentioned in Vanity Fair , extolled by writer John Grogan of Marley and Me and actor Rainn Wilson who plays Dwight Shrute on NBC’s, The Office.
Paradoxically, the glory of worldly fame is not celebrated in I and Love and You. The onus to perform and the inevitable vicissitudes of success resonate in the lyrics to their songs, ruminations of weary travelers whose peregrinations have left them disillusioned and exhausted. Ten of the thirteen songs lie heavy as wet wool blankets sodden with themes of self-doubt, loneliness, and the ugliness of greed.
While Scott Avett plays banjo in only three songs, his twangy picking is distinctive and succinct. Joe Kwon delivers an exemplarity cello performance as notes weave and linger with ethereal luminosity. Scott’s younger brother Seth’s guitar adroitly channels velvety classics such as James Taylor’s Fire and Rain, Bob Crawford’s thunking stand- up bass anchors the tracks.
The Avett Brother’s 2007 Ramseur Records produced CD, Emotionalism, serves as harbinger to I and Love and You. The title track, I and Love and You, implores Brooklyn to take them in much in the same vein as Emotionalism’s lyrics to
A heavy piano solo, shades of the Beatles, Let It Be, accompanied by a stellar cello performance by Joe Kwon opens the song.
Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in/ are you aware of where I’ve been/my hands they shake my head it spins/ oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn, let me in.
What you were then I am today/ look at the things I do/ dumbed down and numbed by time and age/ your dreams the catch the worlds a cage/ the highway sets stage/ all exits look the same.
A return to more traditional Avett roots is Seth’s endearing love song, January Wedding. Scott’s banjo converses with guitar ala the prelude to Dueling Banjos before diving into a crashing crescendo of strings and snare.
And I was sick with heartache and she was sick like Audrey Hepburn when I met her/ but we will both surrender/ true love is not the kind of thing you turn down/ don’t ever turn it down/ and in January we’re getting married/ yeah in January we’re getting married.
Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise, commences with a powerful hymnal style piano baseline and sinuous cello notes.
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light/ in the fine print that tell me what’s wrong and what’s right/And it comes in black and it comes in white and I’m frightened by those who don’t see it./
There was a dream and one day I could see it/like a bird in the cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it / and there was a kid with a head full of doubt so I’ll scream ‘til I die or the last of those bad thoughts are finally out.
Rat a tat tat, rat a tat tat drums shake the fourth track, And It Spead. Abruptly, the din is softened with gentle guitar and Seth’s sunny voice.
There was light in the room then you left and it was through/ then the frost started in my toes and fingertips. And it spread and it spread into my heart/ then for I don’t know how long, I settled in to doing wrong and as the wind fills the sails come the thought to hurt myself.
The Perfect Space is part mournful symphony and part full- out rock with Scott’s wistful voice singing:
I wanna have friends that I can trust that love me for the man I’ve become not the man that I was/ and I want to have friends that let me be all alone when being alone is all that I need/ I want to fit in to the perfect space, fill natural and safe in a volatile place.
Ten Thousand Words is a brilliant epic featuring heart wrenching cord changes and a light guitar melody Seth’s impeccable harmony floats like a summer sheet over Scott’s gravely voice.
And after we are through ten years and making it to be the most glorious debuts/I’ll come back home without my things ‘cause the clothes I ware out there I will not wear around you/ and they’ll be quick to point out our shortcomings and how the experts all have had their doubts/ ain’t it like most people, I’m no different, we love to talk on things we don’t know about.
With a signature chortle and caterwaul, Seth lightens the tone with Kick Drum Heart. He borrows a stuttering ruse from Emotionalism’s, Will You Return?, and a dash of Jamaican laced flavor from Pretty Girl from
F-f-f-footprints over the snow/ the fabric of the lonely/c-c-c- covering only the fables and hands/ the rest is out in the cold holding the last of the season f-f-f-freezing/Yeah/ my my my heart like a kick drum.
Thump…thump thump thump….thump thump the song ends with the kick drum sounding like a heart beat.
While watching Scott in a live show whip the crowd into frenzy, beckoning with his arms to “take you all for a ride,” is a very different experience than listening to the smoother more melodious version, Laundry Room it is no less titillating. The band kicks their heels up at the end in an unexpected hoe-down circa 2003
Don’t push me out/just a little longer/ stall your mother/disregard your father’s words/ keep your clothes on /I’ve got all that I can take/ teach me how to use the love the people say you make.
Close the laundry room door/tiptoe across the floor/ keep your clothes on I’ve got all I can take/teach me how to use the love that people say you make.
Break this tired old routine and this time don’t make me leave/ I am a breathing time machine/I’ll take you for a ride.
Ill with Want summons a piano funeral dirge with Scott conjuring shades of Gram Parsons, In My Hour of Darkness, from GP/Grievous Angel.
I am sick with wanting and its evil and it’s daunting /now lay to waste/ I am lost in greed this time it’s definitely me /I point … fingers but there’s no one there to blame.
Tin Man, makes the cut to CD with it’s a smoothly orchestrated drum and guitar set.
You can’t be like me but be happy that you can’t/ I see pain but I don’t feel it I am like the old tin man. I’m as warm as a stone I keep it steady as I can/ I see pain but I don’t feel it /I am like the old tin man.
Slight Figure of Speech accelerates the mood with a fast paced guitar rhythm reminiscent of Elvis at a clambake with bikini clad girls dancing the” Jerk” Inserted in the middle is a stattcato rap- tinged refrain similar to Talk on Indolence from Four Theives Gone-The Robbinsville Sessions.
They say you gotta lose a couple of fights to win/ it’s hard to tell from where I’m sittin. They say that this is where the fun begins/ I guess it’s time that I was quittin.
A slight figure of speech, I cut my chest wide open/ they come and watch us bleed/ is it like I was hoping now.
They said I hope that you will never change/ I went and cut my hair/ they said don’t take your business to the big time/ I bought us tickets there.
It goes On and On is Seth sincere sonnet imbued with a strong Darling influence (Seth recorded 3 CD’s under the name Darling in the bedroom of his childhood home in
I lost my fear in your arms/ I lost my tears in your car/ I lost my will in your candle lit eyes and my love in you yard.
The last track, Incomplete and Insecure, features Scott’s voice serrated with discouragement accompanied in sympathy by Joe’s cello. Scott’s reference to his insecure nature is in direct conflict to Emotionalism’s I Would Be Sad lyrics where he sings about his “easy confidence.” The Second Gleam’s song Murdered in the City is also given a nod to lyrics in this song where Scott acknowledges the value of family.
I haven’t finished a thing since I started my life/ I don’t feel much like starting now/ walking down lonely has worked like a charm I’m the only one I have to let down
I can go on with my insecure nature I can keep living off sympathy/ I can tell all the people that all of the success is a direct reflection on me/ but watching you makes me think that that is wrong/ what is important what’s really important am I not to know by my name/ will I ever know silence without mental violence Will the ringing at night go away.
Veteran Avett fans raise your arms in a collective cradle, a mosh pit to bolster Scott, Seth, Bob, and Joe. Then rejoice and wrap your arms around the new Avett Brother’s converts that I and Love and You will hook. Welcome them to Avett Nation, it’s the perfect space to gather and celebrate.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Harvey Robinson's Kitchen
http://www.yesweekly.com/article-6785-harvey-robinsons-kitchen.html
I really enjoyed meeting this very talented auteur and his girlfriend, Carolyn.
I really enjoyed meeting this very talented auteur and his girlfriend, Carolyn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)