Talking Leaves, Spring 2004

What I wrote about Laura Kemp’s first CD, Volcano (1994), in an early Talking Leaves, still seems just as true to me today: "Laura Kemp...has more talent as a singer-songwriter-musician than most nationally recognized recording artists, and Volcano is a better album than the vast majority of those I have heard, regardless of musical genre....[She is] a keen observer of the human condition, splendidly gifted at transforming life into art through music, and helping others share in the experience." Since then, with two more equally accomplished CDs, Corduroy (1997) and Alone (2000), and regular live appearances, she has continued to be arguably the most consistently well-loved performer on Eugene's folk singer-songwriter scene, winning a variety of honors including "Favorite Female Musician" virtually every year in Eugene Weekly's readers' poll. In a variety of configurations--with the Laura Kemp Band, Babes With Axes, Kemp-Kelley-Wakefield, in various duos, in songwriters-in-the-round appearances, and solo--she has used her beautiful voice, adept acoustic guitar work, harmonica, and occasional dobro or other instrument to bring a steady supply of fresh songs to audiences in Eugene and throughout the region. Laura's eagerly anticipated new CD, May, goes a long way toward filling in the gaps in her recorded repertoire. But it does much more than that. A skillfully and beautifully assembled song cycle, it presents a cohesive whole, and sets a new standard for a Rain Water Records album. It surpasses even Laura's fine previous recordings in the quality of the performances, the depth and range of emotion and experience conveyed, the beauty and power of the music.

Laura's concerts never fail to be moving, satisfying, grounding experiences for me, reminding me of much of what's most important in my life. To achieve that effect on a CD is an ambitious feat, but Laura and her well-chosen array of guest musicians have accomplished it here. This disc preserves the immediacy and inspiration of Laura's songs while also reflecting a care and attention to musical detail likely to generate ongoing, lasting pleasure in even the most discriminating of listeners. Some tracks, like "Sword Ferns and Salmonberries," are beautiful in the simplicity of the arrangement (just voice and banjo); others, like "Snow Returns," are intoxicating in the rich tapestry of sounds they weave from multiple instruments. Nearly all of the songs have something to do with land, the seasons, and/or weather, as well as with such themes as love, gardening, relationship, and personal feelings and choices. Though I have never been to the specific place it describes, the wistful, haunting "Hannah Branch" evokes in me memories of many places I have loved and left. Sounding like an old-fashioned hoedown, the bluegrassy "In Time" celebrates surrender and transformation. "Rootless Way," a favorite in Laura's set list for ten years now, contemplates the roads that take many of us away from one another, in this culture and time in which geographic separation from friends and family can be the norm rather than the exception. "May," a song from Alone recorded here in a new arrangement, explores the emotional territory of many non-parents' perennial question: whether to remain childless when the desire to have a baby can be so strong. A bittersweet, evocative "Cold Comfort" shares the pain and paradox of a relationship that has gone sour. It serves as a reminder that we are all capable of being in the emotional and spiritual "pits," and (as the rest of the album proves) emerging to see the beauty even in that journey into darkness. The upbeat "Love and Soil" follows, bringing together love of gardening and love of a person and distilling two complex arts into their essences: a willingness to embrace life. The funky, humorous, and touching "T.V. Song" should convince anyone to at least consider what home could be like without a T.V. set. The gently driving "Snow Returns" mixes some of the nostalgia of "Hannah Branch" with separation from a lover and the knowledge that "spring will bring on changes new." Like "Love and Soil," "Sword Ferns and Salmonberries" is inspired by the earth and by love. A cover of Kate Wolf's "The Lilac and the Apple" closes the album on a note similar to that which opened it--reflecting on the passage of time, changes, and the perennial presence of the land, whose readiness to nurture transcends generations. These tracks feature, in various combinations, vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica (all provided by Laura, with Dennis Berck adding harmony vocals on one song), dobro (played by Sally VanMeter), mandolin and mandola (Steve Smith), banjo (Mark Thomas), fiddle (Roy Brewer), violin (David Burham), upright bass (Suzanne Pearce), fretless bass (T.R. Kelley), and drums and percussion (Brian West).