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Here’s a little bit more info. People who have heard the record are raving about it. I was hoping to see Carrie possibly open some dates for Lucinda, but those days may be gone.
http://www.songsillinois.net/?p=3315it wasn’t mentioned in any of the above articles, but this is yet another album that has contributions from greg leisz (i’m not a relative, just a fan of pedal steel)
can’t wait for this and the new emmylou (yes, greg’s on that one too)
lisaGreg Leisz is also all over Carrie’s “Seven Angels On A Bicycle” album. It was great hearing him at The El Rey the last two nights there. These two albums are must haves for me.
Nice article, Lefty. I attended the show last night in Northampton and she was terrific. Did four or five new songs from her upcoming album as well as material from “Seven Angels”. Her band was very sharp, and was augmented with her husband, Javier Vercher on sax, keyboards and percussion. She will be taping an episode for Austin City Limits in two weeks.
real fine show carrie put on at mccabe’s…
check her out if she’s in your neck of the woods……..http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/rodriguez_carrie/2301812/album.jhtml
it was wonderful having lucinda there and it meant a lot to carrie.
i’m so glad no one cares about me enough to write how awful i look, what a sexist jerk to add that dig, which wasn’t even true….
what did that add to the overall review this guy wrote? it was just a jerky boy thing to say…but he did nail the review…it was shorter then mccabe’s but looser cuz of the venue.carrie is hitting her stride, i feel lucky i made it to see her, and wish there were more shows lined up around here….wish i could see her in new york/her element.
really liked kaiser cartel too, they were a great compliment/good opener for carrie. i sat for a while with someone who came to see K-C after seeing them open for his son in kansas (chris tolle, i need to check his myspace). this guy was interesting as he is/was dee dee ramone’s cousin.
i could have listened to his stories all night.well ya know that greg can do no wrong in my eyes, he was wonderful! and so was don heffington on drums. javier was definitely there, and a wonderful sax player/melodic keyboards. carrie said something about javier classing up the band (i paraphrase) so i imagine he’s quite a musician in his own right and i’d be interested in hearing what his thing is.
hans and greg played well off each other and looked like they were having fun. i believe the bass player’s name is kyle.
i know carrie was in heaven playing with the band she had. i’m sure she’s going to miss greg and don.I must echo stellablueee’s displeasure with the reviewer stating that Lucinda looked awful. No way she looked awful!! Certainly, Carrie was the featured performer, and she wore a brilliant red and black outfit, which legitimately dominated the visuals of the stage. In contrast, Lucinda was dressed in discrete, fashionable black, perfect for a Monday evening in Hollywood, and perfect for joining Carrie on stage. I do also agree that that Carrie’s music was marvelous, and I thank KaiserCartel for performing “Something About Happens When We Talk”.
Paul, glad to hear that you attended the show. Thank you for the information. I’ve talked with Carrie on a few occasions and she’s an amazing human being. I’m glad she’s getting the great reviews.
i can’t get carrie’s electric mandolin out of my head……which is a good thing. personally, i like rag doll, but that’s the thing about music.
Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me – review
Posted by raegun on August 5th, 2008After her well-received solo debut Seven Angels on a Bicycle, Carrie Rodriguez spent much of 2007 on a whirlwind tour schedule that included opening for friend/fan Lucinda Williams. The Associated Press raved, “. . . her voice has a character few achieve. Rather than a support player taking a minor turn, she uses her first solo album to mark her ground as a singular talent.”
Carrie’s sophomore release, ” She Ain’t Me,” still showcases her intimate croon, but this classically trained singer/songwriter has just begun flexing her artistic muscles. “She Ain’t Me” is an expectation-confounding statement from Carrie, who notes, “Because I took some chances, wrote with some new people and actually co-wrote most of the songs on the album, it’s very different.”
For She Ain’t Me, the Austin-born, Berklee-trained violinist-turned-fiddler teamed with producer Malcolm Burn (Emmylou Harris, Patti Smith, Kaki King) and wrote with Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, as well as Mary Gauthier, Dan Wilson, and Jim Boquist. The album also features a guest vocal appearance by Lucinda Williams.
The great:
“She Ain’t Me” – Like her idol Lucinda Williams, Rodriguez takes a bit of country and mixes it with a sweet bit o’ honey. This is a very rare song that wins you over without a perfect explanation why it’s so satisfying.
“El Salvador” – When Sheryl Crow first came out there was something magical about her songs. Many of these songs weren’t commercially viable and yet they were great and fans loved them. Rodriguez has many of those similar qualities.
“Infinite Night” – Biting, interesting lyrics with Rodriguez full of venom.
“Grace”The rest:
“El Dorado”
“The Big Mistake”
“Rag Doll” – Not Rodriguez at her best.Finally:
Neither Carrie Rodriguez, nor her record label, are well known and its a shame they may not find their way into the masses. Rodriguez is an interesting artist who has a very good voice but what makes her interesting are the lyrics and the way she makes you feel everyone of the words she sings.http://www.hiponline.com/music-reviews/carrie-rodriguez-she-aint-me-review/
In this day of specialized labels, specific tastes, and narrow radio play lists, it seems that the number of artists that attempt to break new ground with each CD release is rare. Many artists are practically forced to simply recreate a sound that will keep a fan-base intact and not alienated. There are great acts that are great at doing such “controlled reinvention”. Drive by Truckers, Coldplay, Kathleen Edwards and Ryan Adams are some recent examples of artists that continue to be exciting, by only slightly branching-out without drastically altering their sound (Adam’s Rock & Roll being a bit more than a minor alteration to his previous sound). On the other side of this coin are artists that seem to suffer from an amazingly creative and fruitful form of amnesia. Instead of pulling something out of the back-catalog to remind their fans what makes them great, they simply decide to create something new that may or may not leave folks wondering,”what happened”?? My Morning Jacket displayed that sense of excellent reckless abandon with “Evil Urges”. Another artist who has decided that the ways of the past are not necessarily those of the future is Carrie Rodriguez, with her second solo album, She Aint Me.
Don’t get me wrong, this album isn’t too drastic of a departure from her previous solo album, Seven Angels on a Bicycle. That album was excellently written and beautifully produced, just as this one is. The departure is from her work as the duo partner of Chip Taylor. The collaboration with Taylor is what made her a well-known and respected fiddle player, writer and vocalist. Her twangy vocal style, snappy fiddle and overall fresh perspective was the engine that drove the duo’s albums to the top of Americana charts for several years. With She Aint Me, Rodriguez fully exposes herself as an artist that is far more than a simple fiddle playin’ side-woman.
The first 4 tracks of the album, “Infinite Night”, followed by the title track, then “Rag Doll” and finally, “Absence” are better than many ENTIRE albums I listen to on a weekly basis. I hate comparisons, especially ones that are very likely obvious and over-used, but I dare you to listen to these tracks and not think of Lucinda Williams. Both artists posess voices that are distinctive and instantly recognizable, add to that these first 4 tracks showcase a range of tempo, attitude and vulnerability that should make any singer-songwriter envious, as Williams has been doing for years. With “Rag Doll”, Rodriguez delivers what is likely my favorite vocal performance of the year, if not longer. To say the song is heart-breaking is a severe crime of understatement. During the chorus, as she sings to a lover that likely doesn’t deserve her love, “I feel like a floppy rag doll” and “I make it hard to love me“, Rodriguez’s voice reaches an aching whisper that somehow displays the strength of a cry. That fragility, mixed with her catharsis propels this track from a simple song about troubled love into a story that leaves more questions than answers about how the subjects will end up. Before you ask, if you haven’t already, yes, Rodriguez’s fiddling prowess is featured in various spots on the album. The fiddle’s most prominent role is in the cut, “Absence”. A feeling similar to that of greeting an old friend hits as this song plays out, reminding us that this is a performer who wants us to know that she may be giving other instruments a turn, but her love lies with the fiddle.
Over the length of the disc, we see guitar, piano, and the fiddle employed to a wide array of tempo and production. The cuts that feature mainly acoustic guitar, piano and Rodriguez’s vocal are songs that could be turned into cheesy VH1-ready “girl love songs” if in the hands of someone else. Tracks such as the closing, “Can’t Cry Enough” contain a depth that glossy radio and TV typically have a hard time fully grasping.
Fans of “Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez”, please take note, and save your worries, She Aint Me is an absolute triumph on every level. The same angelic twang, expert musicianship and vivid storytelling are as present here as they ever have been. Creating diversity inside of a body of work for an artist can often times be risky. When someone with this quality of vision and ability looks to try something new, the risk becomes the listeners reward.
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