| Laura Cantrell (June.05 issue) |
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| Written by Jeff Clark | |
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Page 1 of 4  Sweetness and LightLaura Cantrell Makes Tradition Her Own Laura Cantrell's voice radiates the sort of poised, enchanting sweetness that can render grown men's knees the sturdiness of Jell-O. Well, maybe not those grown men I saw on the corner this afternoon with neck tattoos and Deicide T-shirts, but you know what I'm saying. That voice is the first thing you notice on her recordings - not that it draws attention to itself in any tacky sort of way. It's just that after being conditioned to accept that over-wailing bimbo divas, angry white guys shouting and screaming, thug rappers grunting, indie rockers whining and mumbling and geezer folkers wheezing constitute the best vocal talent America has to offer, when you hear a voice that's almost wholesome in its traditional beauty, it kind of knocks you back a few steps. You're paralyzed by the purity. I think the first time anyone told me I should listen to New York-based Laura Cantrell's uncomplicated country-folk music, it was John Peel. He wrote a postcard thanking us for the piece S&S did on him in 2000, and he made a point to recommend Cantrell's debut album, Not the Tremblin' Kind. Cantrell, a fellow DJ (she's hosted a program called "Radio Thrift Shop," featuring a mix of current and vintage country, bluegrass, folk, jazz and blues recordings, for twelve years on New Jersey's noncommercial freeform station WFMU-FM), Cantrell went on to record five Peel Sessions for the BBC and became close friends with John and his wife. When they visited New York City in 2002, he asked Cantrell to guide him on a tour of all the good local record shops. In 2002 Diesel Only, the small independent label operated by Cantrell's husband, Jeremy Tepper (he now programs the "Outlaw Country" station on Sirius' satellite radio service), released her second album, When the Roses Bloom Again, to high praise from critics and peers. After Elvis Costello personally picked her to open a string of dates on his US tour that fall, Cantrell finally quit her corporate day job (VP of equity research at Bank of America) and plunged into music full-time. Matador, the independent rock label known more for hipping the hipsters to Yo La Tengo and Guided By Voices, releases Cantrell's third album, Humming By the Flowered Vine, on June 21st. As with her previous recordings, Vine is a seamless mix of obscure old excavations ("Wishful Thinking" by Bakersfield honky-tonk legend Wynn Stewart, the traditional mountain murder ballad "Poor Ellen Smith"), selections by little known modern songwriters (Emily Spray's "14th Street," Jenifer Jackson's "What You Said") and Cantrell originals ("California Rose," a tribute to Rose Maddox, and "Old Downtown," a rumination on her old hometown of Nashville, are standouts). Lucinda Williams might be the only name anyone will recognize in the songwriting credits, but "Letters" is a cover of an unreleased Williams song from the late 1970s. Musically, it's a pretty, tasteful amalgam of folksy styles, solid if restrained and a bit too adult-polite, in that "NPR country" sort of way. But if it's lacking in ruffles, it makes up for it in the wistful, reassuring mood it creates around you. We took a call from the refreshingly down-to-earth 37-year-old Cantrell on a recent Monday afternoon. Here are a few segments of our conversation... |
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