Mae Robertson Covers: Dar Williams, Gillian Welch, Elvis Costello, Beth Nielsen Chapman

Singer-songwriter and folk interpreter Mae Robertson is my kind of person: a lover of cover songs, and a true fan of the environment, who ran a chain of New York natural fiber children's clothing stores for twenty years before returning to Alabama in 2000 to pursue her musical career. Many of her albums to date have been released as part of her Lullaby & Lovesong Collection, which has won numerous awards in the world of parenting. And the brightly-colored, flower-shaped plantable business card she sent along with her newest album, the aptly titled Meet the Sun Halfway, really won me over.

If this were a blog about cool people, I could have stopped there. But though it was the flower-shaped business card, and the personal note that accompanied it, which caused me to give Mae's work a second listen, it was the music which ultimately won me over. And that's saying something. Because for most of my life, I've dismissed Mae's sort of music. And now I think I owe some people an apology.

Mae Robertson comes from a school of folk way on the other end of the spectrum from the lo-fi, sparse, acoustic folk which characterizes the current indiefolk movement. This is folk for those who love Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, and others in the rich-voiced songstress vein -- strong-voiced women who are primarily singers and interpreters of song, rather than storytellers or songwriters per se.

It's not generally my favorite branch of the folkworld. And, I'll be honest, at first I didn't think this was going to be my cup of tea. But Mae has a lot going for her. Her organic business sense parallels themes of growth in her song choices and, increasingly, in her own emerging songwriting, which is surprisingly direct and vivid. She has an exquisite taste in folkworld cover songs, and an uncanny ability to pick songs and lyrics which best match her sweet, pure alto voice. The emotional honesty and carefully tuned craft she brings to her work is equal to the greatest of the words she sings, whether they are her own, of those of others. And her warm, bright delivery is like the sun itself.

Like much of this sort of Adult Contemporary folkpop, the way in which we hear Mae's voice is subject to the whim of the producer, and in this case, the production on some songs is a bit too strong for my own taste. This is a common complaint for many folkfans when faced with this part of the genre, I suspect -- I had the same reaction to much of Shelby Lynne's newest coveralbum. But as with Shelby's work, the songs here run the gamut, from sparser work in the americana folk vein all the way to the jazzpop stuff, and there's plenty of gems.

Even when it works, the heavy, almost syrupy production Mae Robertson chooses for many of her best covers can take some getting used to. It's startling to hear the likes of Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch covered in such dulcet tones, and with such lush orchestration. But like the seeds that will sprout from her business card, this is music that truly grows on you. It says something that I've continued to listen to these CDs long after I first sampled them. There's a warm, celebratory tone in Robertson's voice, and a genuine love of the songs she sings which shines though to the heart.

My kids hear it, too. Of all the CDs I've recieved, these are the only ones my older daughter has asked about; when I asked her why, she said "I like this music; it's really pretty, and really nice" -- high praise, from a five year old. It's also the only folk music that both kids will dance to. They twirl and smile, like full-grown music box ballerinas, when I put Mae Robertson on. Believe me, this is music that will stay on the turntable for a while. Why not take it for a spin yourself?

• Mae Robertson, Paper Wings (orig. Gillian Welch)
  
• Mae Robertson, Seven Shades of Blue (orig. Beth Nielsen Chapman)
  (from Smile)
  
  
• Mae Robertson, The One Who Knows (orig. Dar Williams)
  
• Mae Robertson, Dreamland (orig. Mary Chapin Carpenter)
  (from Dream)
  
  
• Mae Robertson, All For The Love (orig. Beth Nielsen Chapman)
  
• Mae Robertson, Almost Blue (orig. Elvis Costello)
  (from Meet The Sun Halfway)
  

Meet The Sun Halfway was released in February; it includes more stellar covers, and some sweet and cohesive originals from Mae Robertson herself. Cuts above also come from Mae's two all-cover albums: last year's gorgeous award-winning lullaby collection Dream, and 2002 release Smile, which has the lightest production of the three CDs mentioned here, and features such back-up folk and bluegrass luminaries as Tim O'Brien, Viktor Krauss, and Sloan Wainwright. Pick up these, and sample all of her previous albums, at CD Baby (Mae's preferred source) or via her website.


Today's bonus coversongs, because Mae Robertson's fondness for Beth Nielsen Chapman sent me to the stacks.

• Beth Nielsen Chapman covers Judy Collins' Since You Asked
  
• Beth Nielsen Chapman sweetens Elvis standard Love Me Tender
  
• Willie Nelson covers Chapman's Nothing I Can Do About It Now

Spring Has Sprung: Soft Coversongs of Hope and Renewal

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, and someone forgot to tell the sky.

In the morning, says the weatherman, the world will turn to slush. And if we are truly blessed, all our sins will be washed away.

Outside the snow sulks in great mounds where the plows have pushed it aside. Hard ice falls on three-inch shoots and tufts of new grass. We stay up late, and sit by the window together, and wait for the rains that do not come.

Send rain, O Lord. For it has been a hard Winter, and we are ready for Spring.

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Spring & All (orig. Greg Brown)
  A beautiful, pensive portrait of rural loss and reclaimation from Going Driftless: an Artist's Tribute to Greg Brown; go get more Mary Chapin Carpenter here.
  
  
• Erin McKeown, They Say It's Spring (Clarke/Haymes)
  Sultry acoustic swing from Queen of Quiet Erin McKeown. From her album of classic american jazz and vaudville standards Sing You Sinners.
  
  
• Elizabeth Mitchell, Winter's Come and Gone (orig. Gillian Welch)
  
• Elizabeth Mitchell, Pom Na Tu Ri (Springtime Outing) (Korean folksong)
  Tiny, delicate Springsongs from You Are My Little Bird, one of our three most favorite albums from kidfolkie Elizabeth Mitchell.
  
  
• Cassandra Wilson, Waters of March (orig. Antonio Carlos Jobim)
  
• Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan, Waters of March (ibid.)
  Two vastly different interpretations of Jobim's now-standard Brazilian folktune: a sparse, acoustic take by Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan off the Goldfish Memory soundtrack, and the spicy smooth jazzpop of Cassandra Wilson's Belly of the Sun.
  
  
• Ann Percival, Tide and the River Rising (orig. Cindy Kallet)
  
• Ann Percival, Green Grow the Rushes Oh (trad.)
  A pair of my favorite spring tunes from clear-voiced Contrafolk vocalist Ann Percival's sole solo album The Sweetest Hours.
  
  
• Greg Brown, Green Grows The Laurel (trad.)
  A bittersweet stand-out track from bullfrog-voiced Greg Brown's underrated collection of traditional folksongs Honey in the Lion's Head.
  
  
• Emmylou Harris w/ Ricky Skaggs and Dolly Parton, Green Pastures (trad.)
  Spring pastures as metaphor for Heaven. Great authentic countryfolk gospel from prolific coverartist Emmylou Harris' 1980 album Roses in the Snow, now available in remastered form.

Happy Spring, everyone. May the darkness turn, and the world turn green and alive for each of us.

And A Happy New Year (On The Turning of Time and Calendar Pages)

It's human nature to turn inward in times of timeturning. It's reassuring that we do; it bespeaks our still-close relationship with nature, and the planet. In a world long teetering on the verge of disaster, our innate need to constantly reground ourselves in history and ecology gives me more hope than anything at the future and continued existence of the human race. That it happens everywhere, regardless of country or creed, only reinforces my faith in all of us.

May your year turn joyfully. May you put to rest all the anxieties of a lifetime passed-so-far, and pass clean into the new possibility. May you live more and more in the connections between, and less and less in the margins. May you cover the world, and may the world cover you.

• Bruce Cockburn, Turn, Turn, Turn (orig. Pete Seeger)
  (from Where Have All The Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger)
  
  
• Ben Taylor Band, Time of the Season (orig. The Zombies)
  (from Famous Among the Barns)
  
  
• Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, Four Seasons In One Day (orig. Crowded House)
  (live; more Crowded House covers here)
  
  
• Pablo, This Will Be Our Year (orig. The Zombies)
  (from Half The Time)
  
  
• Mindy Smith, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (orig. Loesser)
  (from My Holiday)
  
  
• Rufus Wainwright, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (orig. Loesser)
  (from The McGarrigle Christmas Hour)
  
  
• Tony Trischka, Auld Lang Syne
  (from Glory Shone Around: A Christmas Collection)

I resolve to continue to promote folk artists and their labels by linking to their preferred source for purchasing wherever possible, rather than supporting megastores and megalabels who really aren't interested in music, or in musicians or their audiences, except as a means to a dollar.

In addition, I resolve to continue to serve an astute listening public (that's you!) by continuing to bring you songs, singers, and songwriters in context as long as it is safe, legal, and fun for all of us...and by feeling grateful for every comment, email, and download. It's nice to feel appreciated, folks. Thanks for listening, and have a very, very happy new year.

Don't forget to come back Wednesday for another installment in our very popular Covered in Folk series. This week I'll be featuring folkcovers of Paul Simon tunes.