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Caroline Herring: Twilight |
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Track List 1. Mississippi Snow To hear sound clips go here
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(Blue Corn) Twilight is
Canton, Mississippi native Caroline Herring's debut CD, and what a debut it
is. Now based in Austin, Caroline posesses a magnificent alto, a strong and
crystal clear voice that also drips with sultry, southern honey, much like
what you'd expect to hear if you married the voices of Joan Baez and Allison
Moorer. A strong songwriter, Caroline manages to write songs that are
uncomplicated and easy for the listener to understand, yet at the same time,
are very "visual" and literate gothic vignettes of life in the deep
south. Her music transcends boundaries by heavily incorporating the rich
textures of traditional country, bluegrass, folk and acoustic ballads.
Caroline first caught the attention of bluegrass
great Peter Rowan while she was in Oxford, Mississippi hosting The Thacker
Mountain Radio Show with her band, The Sincere Ramblers. After moving to
Austin, she quickly gained a dedicated following among the best acoustic
musicans on the Austin scene for both her great vocal and songwriting
talent. On Twilight, Caroline is backed by some of Austin's finest,
including guitarist (and the album's producer) John Immon, Peter Rowan, Lloyd
Maines, Paul Glasse, and Bryn and Billy Bright.
Twilight is a mainly acoustic album that
features 10 originals and one cover. In the disc's outstanding opener,
"Mississippi Snow," Caroline paints the picture of the cotton fields that
surrounded her hometown of Canton, starting with a little girl standing on a
cold bathroom floor as her mother brushes her hair, which is followed by
various childhood images and ends with the almost inevitable proclamation,
"Mama, you know I had to go." Twilight's most outstanding track is
"Devil Made A Mess," a steel driven, stone country weeper that was inspired by
Hank Williams. Written after attending a Hank Williams tribute show, Caroline
achingly laments the dynamics of a relationship between a lost soul and an
enabler, asking "What's that spell that makes us want to ride into hell?"
"Ringside Rodeo" uses the analogy of riding a
bucking bronc, to describe a woman trying to figure out her way in life. "Wise
Woman" tells the tale of a pioneer woman's hard life, and when she feels she
can't go on, she wanders off to "the mountain" and "the river" to contemplate
her life, and realizes despite the hardships, how much she really has. The
dark, bluegrassy "Standing In The Water," finds a woman struggling with her
personal demons in regard to the South's haunted history of slavery. "Emma" is
a haunting tale of a relationship between a father and a daughter.
"Whippoorwill" is a simple, acoustic ballad, yet Caroline's voice soars and
flutters like a bird, making the song a truly joyous celebration of
family. "Carolina Moon" is another outstanding track, using such southern
imagery as, "pass the biscuits Darlin', this supper's heaven sent" and "and
the Carolina moon is rising in the Texas sky," in this almost intoxicatingly
exuberant, ode to being so completely and happily in love. Twilight
closes with the disc's lone cover, a breathtaking rendition of Dorsey Dixon's
dark "Wreck On The Highway," made famous by Roy Acuff and the Louvin Brothers.
An excellent choice as she shows how deep her roots are, while shining a fresh
new light on an old chestnut.
Though she takes on heavy subject matter,
Caroline's writing shows her knack for not weighing down the songs by keeping
the "songwriter" out of the way, and letting her characters speak for
themselves in uncomplicated and simple, yet intelligent and vivid terms. Add
to her amazing songwriting talent, her extraordinary voice, and if you look
up, you'll see there's most certainly a very bright new star (via Mississippi)
shining in that old Texas sky.
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AnnMarie Harrington
Take Country Back January 2003