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| Date |
City |
Venue |
| Wed 8/20/08 |
Cambridge, MA |
Club Passim |
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"This
project feels like a step forward for me," Cantrell notes.
"But at the same time, I feel like I'm going back to my
roots, making music purely for myself. Delving into these songs
allowed me to feel my way through the music and rediscover my
instincts."
Trains and Boats and Planes features Cantrell's first new recordings
in three years, ending a temporary hiatus during which her attentions
were focused on raising her new daughter. The new, all-covers
collection – available exclusively as a digital release
-- adds a vibrant new chapter to the artist's distinctive, deeply
personal body of work, which has artfully merged her lifelong
affinity for American country and folk traditions with an unmistakably
contemporary sensibility. The result is timelessly resonant
music that's both personal and thoroughly original.
The British daily The Independent called Cantrell "arguably
the most vital new country voice in decades," while The
New York Times praised "the kind of cosmic wistfulness
that the best country and folk music can conjure when it dreams
of the past." The Wall Street Journal described her as
"sweet and steady, sneaking up on you with a light touch
and a sustained passion." London's Sunday Times noted,
"She picks great songs to sing, and her clear, understated
voice proves the perfect vehicle to convey the emotion-drenched
lyrics." Rolling Stone called Cantrell "a modern woman
with an old-timey heart, with a voice pitched somewhere between
the bluesy realism of Lucinda Williams and the vintage femininity
of Kitty Wells."
Trains and Boats and Planes explores the time-honored theme
of travel, meditating movingly on the heartache of separation
and loss. Cantrell delivers deeply-felt interpretations of a
diverse set of tunes, including her bittersweet reading of the
Burt Bacharach/Hal David-penned title track, along with poignant
interpretations of Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings"
and Roger Miller's "Train of Life," a wry take on
John Hartford's "Howard Hughes Blues," a mournful
reworking of New Order's "Love Vigilantes" (also included
on the soundtrack album of the documentary film Body of War,
alongside the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Eddie
Vedder), and an evocative arrangement of the Gordon Lightfoot
epic "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
After the May 2006 birth of her daughter, Cantrell found herself
making the adjustment to motherhood, and missing the itinerant
lifestyle that had become a large part of her musical life since
the 2000 release of her debut album Not the Tremblin' Kind.
Away from the road, she took solace in her band, playing low-key
local gigs where they'd work out new versions of travel-themed
numbers that expressed her melancholy mood. Those songs would
become the foundation of Trains and Boats and Planes.
Cantrell recorded Trains and Boats and Planes in a series of
loose, informal sessions at guitarist Mark Spencer's Brooklyn
studio Tape Kitchen. The tracks feature Cantrell's live combo,
including Spencer on guitar and his former Blood Oranges bandmate
Jimmy Ryan on mandolin, plus bassist Jeremy Chatzky (whose resume
includes work with Bruce Springsteen and Ronnie Spector) and
drummer Steve Goulding (of Mekons/Waco Brothers/Graham Parker
and the Rumour fame). The new tracks also feature contributions
from noted multi-instrumentalist Ted Reichman on accordion,
and rising jazz-pop artist Jenny Scheinman on violin and harmony
vocals.
"Recording this EP was very affirming, and it was a real
pleasure making this music," Cantrell states. "I love
these songs, and though some are a bit melancholy, that was
part of the process. The songs allowed me to explore the emotional
spaces created by some big changes in my life that had left
me unsure of my bearings. And I'd always wanted an excuse to
record a Bacharach tune."
The musical depth and emotional engagement of Trains and Boats
and Planes will be familiar to anyone acquainted with Cantrell's
prior work. The New York-based Nashville native's richly expressive
musical vision draws upon a deep well of musical and personal
experience. Growing up in the country music capitol, she was
immersed in the music early in life, and furthered her musical
education as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame
and Museum. After relocating to New York to attend Columbia
University, she began singing in dorm rooms and coffeehouses,
performing with groups like Bricks, led by future Superchunk/Merge
Records kingpin Mac Macaughan.
After college, Cantrell moved to the Williamsburg section of
Brooklyn, where she befriended John Flansburgh of They Might
Be Giants, who recruited her to sing on "The Guitar"
on the band's Apollo 18 album, as well as appearing in the video
for the song. In 1996, Flansburgh produced and released an EP
of her original compositions through his "Hello CD of the
Month Club" subscription service.
While she was developing her own musical vision, Cantrell was
also gaining considerable notoriety playing other people's records
as a radio DJ. After a stint on Columbia University's WKCR,
she moved to the legendary New Jersey freeform station WFMU.
During its 13-year run on WFMU, Cantrell's Saturday-afternoon
country show The Radio Thrift Shop became an institution in
the New York area—and won an international audience, thanks
to online streaming.
Balancing her budding performing career with her radio pursuits
and her day job at a Wall Street investment firm, Cantrell released
her debut album Not the Tremblin' Kind in 2000 on husband Jeremy
Tepper's tiny Diesel Only label. The album showcased her original
songwriting, as well as her uncanny knack for unearthing obscure
vintage country gems and material by contemporary writers. Despite
its low-key release, Not the Tremblin' Kind won an unexpected
level of national attention, earning countless press raves including
a four-star review in Rolling Stone.
One of Cantrell's early admirers was Teenage Fanclub/BMX Bandits
member Francis Macdonald, who released Not the Tremblin' Kind
in Britain on his Glasgow-based indie Shoeshine label. Cantrell
soon became a sensation in the U.K., where she received considerable
press and airplay and toured extensively. Her British fans included
legendary BBC DJ John Peel, who described Not the Tremblin'
Kind as "my favorite record of the last ten years and possibly
my life," and who would have Cantrell record no less than
five prestigious "Peel Sessions."
Cantrell's 2002 sophomore release When the Roses Bloom Again
earned even more attention, with the artist making high-profile
appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Grand Ole
Opry, as well as being featured on NPR's All Things Considered,
Weekend Edition, World Café and Mountain Stage, and profiled
in The New York Times' Arts and Leisure section and Oprah Winfrey’s
O magazine. She won another high-profile fan in Elvis Costello,
who stated, "If Kitty Wells made Rubber Soul, it would
sound like Laura Cantrell," and who brought Cantrell along
as his opening act on 17 dates of his 2002 U.S. tour.
Cantrell moved to the Matador label for 2005's Humming by the
Flowered Vine, which featured contributions from producer J.D.
Foster and members of Calexico and Ollabelle as well as her
regular band. The album was greeted by fans and critics as her
most mature and accomplished musical statement yet, and its
release was accompanied by her most extensive roadwork to date,
including appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion
and KCRW's Morning Becomes Electric.
Having added parenthood to her extensive resume, Laura Cantrell
has her sights set on her musical future, with Trains and Boats
and Planes pointing the way. "I look at this project as
a bridge from the familiarity of my past to what lies ahead,"
she states. "I'm still working on crossing that span, but
with renewed enthusiasm for what's on the other side." |
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Trains
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Digital EP 2008 |
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