johnfoyle
07-05-2005, 06:49 PM
http://www.thejournalnews.com/theline/musicline/
On Independence Day, a country songstress celebrates Americana
SEAN GLENNON
FOR THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 30, 2005)
Money may talk, but no one's ever accused it of singing. Or writing. And what Laura Cantrell wanted more than a career in the securities industry was an opportunity to write more songs. So two years ago, the alt-country singer — who was already well known and well regarded as a song finder, song interpreter and sometimes songwriter — left Wall Street to pursue music full time.
She figured more time to write would translate to more songs that she could include on her eventual third CD. On each of her first two, she only had four originals.
Things didn't work out quite according to plan. Cantrell's new disc, "Humming by the Flowered Vine" (Matador), which was released June 21, includes exactly four original songs. The rest of the album's 10 tracks come from such sources as alt-country icon Lucinda Williams, Bakersfield country legend Wynn Stewart, longtime Cantrell associate Dave Schramm, and NYC-based singer-songwriters Emily Spray and Jenifer Jackson.
"I had definitely hoped that I would have more of my own original material for this album," Cantrell says. "I quit my job a couple years ago, and we were on tour for the rest of the year and when I got home finally, like, in January, I was like, OK now the songs are gonna start coming, because now I have all this free time. And it was a real interesting discovery of mine that time wasn't the only issue, that still the writing process is a bit mysterious."
Cantrell says she did find time to start more songs than she had in the past. Trouble is, she didn't like many of them enough to finish, never mind include on her record.
Still, there's been at least one upshot of her additional writing time.
"I did feel like the songs that I ended up with of my own were at least as well written — and I think in some ways a little bit more so — than the last couple of albums," she says. "So I was proud of what I got, but it was not more in quantity."
And, in the end, Cantrell is anything but averse to recording other writers' songs. In fact, doing so plays into her longtime love of discovering and giving exposure to talented writers and their songs. Cantrell, who grew up in Nashville but has lived in New York for close to two decades, has been the host since 1993 of the "Radio Thrift Shop," a Saturday afternoon country-Americana show on Jersey City's WFMU. The show focuses on underappreciated and under-recognized country and folk artists, past and present. And so, often, Cantrell has the recording artist and performer's choice of cover songs.
Indeed, even when her sources are well known, Cantrell prefers to take on songs from off the beaten path. Take, for example, Williams, whose previously unknown "Letter" shows up on "Flowered Vine."
"That was actually the last song I picked and brought into the process," Cantrell recalls. "A friend of mine had it, because he was friendly with Lucinda back in the early '80s and he had it in this pile of old cassettes in his basement and he was like, he kept saying to me 'I have these Lucinda songs you should hear,' and he said that to me for about three years. And finally I actually said to him, 'Look, I'm making a record, so put up or shut up. You find that cassette or quit talking to me about these Lucinda songs I should hear.'"
Cantrell and the album's producer, JD Foster, loved the song and decided to record it. The decision was a good one, not just for Cantrell, who got a great song for her record, but for the song, which deserved to be rescued from that pile of old demos.
There isn't a track on "Flowered Vine" that doesn't deserve exposure. From "California Rose," the latest in a series of Cantrell originals to celebrate overlooked women in country-music history (in this case Rose Maddox), to Spray's sweet, wistful New York love song "14th Street" to Stewart's honky-tonk "Wishful Thinking," the disc offers tracks that are well-written, beautifully arranged and lovingly performed, which is exactly what alt-country fans have come to expect from Cantrell. And, as usual, all of the songs on the record benefit from Cantrell's notable talent as a song interpreter — she has an amazing ability to make a song her own (both vocally and instrumentally) without robbing it of the writer's spirit — and from her gorgeous, crystal-clear, classic country vocals.
Still, Cantrell continues to hope that next time around she'll be able to include more of her own compositions.
"It's not so much that it bothers me, because I've had the opportunity to record so many great songs," she says. "But it's still something I'd really like to do. So ... we'll see."
On Independence Day, a country songstress celebrates Americana
SEAN GLENNON
FOR THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 30, 2005)
Money may talk, but no one's ever accused it of singing. Or writing. And what Laura Cantrell wanted more than a career in the securities industry was an opportunity to write more songs. So two years ago, the alt-country singer — who was already well known and well regarded as a song finder, song interpreter and sometimes songwriter — left Wall Street to pursue music full time.
She figured more time to write would translate to more songs that she could include on her eventual third CD. On each of her first two, she only had four originals.
Things didn't work out quite according to plan. Cantrell's new disc, "Humming by the Flowered Vine" (Matador), which was released June 21, includes exactly four original songs. The rest of the album's 10 tracks come from such sources as alt-country icon Lucinda Williams, Bakersfield country legend Wynn Stewart, longtime Cantrell associate Dave Schramm, and NYC-based singer-songwriters Emily Spray and Jenifer Jackson.
"I had definitely hoped that I would have more of my own original material for this album," Cantrell says. "I quit my job a couple years ago, and we were on tour for the rest of the year and when I got home finally, like, in January, I was like, OK now the songs are gonna start coming, because now I have all this free time. And it was a real interesting discovery of mine that time wasn't the only issue, that still the writing process is a bit mysterious."
Cantrell says she did find time to start more songs than she had in the past. Trouble is, she didn't like many of them enough to finish, never mind include on her record.
Still, there's been at least one upshot of her additional writing time.
"I did feel like the songs that I ended up with of my own were at least as well written — and I think in some ways a little bit more so — than the last couple of albums," she says. "So I was proud of what I got, but it was not more in quantity."
And, in the end, Cantrell is anything but averse to recording other writers' songs. In fact, doing so plays into her longtime love of discovering and giving exposure to talented writers and their songs. Cantrell, who grew up in Nashville but has lived in New York for close to two decades, has been the host since 1993 of the "Radio Thrift Shop," a Saturday afternoon country-Americana show on Jersey City's WFMU. The show focuses on underappreciated and under-recognized country and folk artists, past and present. And so, often, Cantrell has the recording artist and performer's choice of cover songs.
Indeed, even when her sources are well known, Cantrell prefers to take on songs from off the beaten path. Take, for example, Williams, whose previously unknown "Letter" shows up on "Flowered Vine."
"That was actually the last song I picked and brought into the process," Cantrell recalls. "A friend of mine had it, because he was friendly with Lucinda back in the early '80s and he had it in this pile of old cassettes in his basement and he was like, he kept saying to me 'I have these Lucinda songs you should hear,' and he said that to me for about three years. And finally I actually said to him, 'Look, I'm making a record, so put up or shut up. You find that cassette or quit talking to me about these Lucinda songs I should hear.'"
Cantrell and the album's producer, JD Foster, loved the song and decided to record it. The decision was a good one, not just for Cantrell, who got a great song for her record, but for the song, which deserved to be rescued from that pile of old demos.
There isn't a track on "Flowered Vine" that doesn't deserve exposure. From "California Rose," the latest in a series of Cantrell originals to celebrate overlooked women in country-music history (in this case Rose Maddox), to Spray's sweet, wistful New York love song "14th Street" to Stewart's honky-tonk "Wishful Thinking," the disc offers tracks that are well-written, beautifully arranged and lovingly performed, which is exactly what alt-country fans have come to expect from Cantrell. And, as usual, all of the songs on the record benefit from Cantrell's notable talent as a song interpreter — she has an amazing ability to make a song her own (both vocally and instrumentally) without robbing it of the writer's spirit — and from her gorgeous, crystal-clear, classic country vocals.
Still, Cantrell continues to hope that next time around she'll be able to include more of her own compositions.
"It's not so much that it bothers me, because I've had the opportunity to record so many great songs," she says. "But it's still something I'd really like to do. So ... we'll see."