Lui Collins In theTime of Passage… by Richard CuccaroThere's something radiant in a person who seeks to commune with the spirit of humankind and of nature. When these qualities are embodied in a folksinger, they take on a luminescence that envelops them. So it is when we behold Lui Collins. Her dark eyes project both strength and vulnerability. Alert, they seem to look right through you, down to your core. She combines original songwriting with traditional forms. A New Englander, her sensibilities have been forged in nature's hills, forests, and streams, described in her songs. Her clear, smooth, delicately balanced alto is perfect for storytelling and picture-painting. Beginnings As a child, she sang for fun all the time. Her parents were serious music listeners and they both sang. However, there was no shortage of formal study. When considered along with regular schoolwork, the workload seems staggering. In the third grade, she began studying piano. In the fourth grade, violin lessons followed and continued through high school. The piano lessons continued through the eighth grade, then were picked up again some time later. In high school, the French horn was added to the violin studies. She played in both high school orchestra and band and sang in glee club. Lui also played violin and later French horn in the Vermont Youth Orchestra and went to All State and New England Music Festivals every year. She says that getting my astonished reaction to that list at this point, "It seems like a lot, but it didn't seem so at the time! - it's just what I did!" Birth of a Folkie Her love of folk music also started in high school. Her aunt and uncle got into Joan Baez and brought home albums and Lui listened to them. From there, she got into Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Simon and Garfunkel. She had started playing guitar(!) on her own, learning tracks from albums by Peter, Paul and Mary and others, using both books and records. "The Joan Baez songbook was wonderful," she says. Along with a friend, she performed folk music on three occasions. This author was struck by the vocal fluency in her singing the achingly beautiful "Saudade," in both Portuguese and English on her 2000 release, Leaving Fort Knox. Lui stated that halfway through her senior year of high school, she was selected to spend a year in Brazil in the AFS program. She was assigned to a family while still in the U.S. After spending two weeks at a language camp, she went to live with the family. For three months, she had a constant headache from the concentration required to comprehend the language. Then, after three months, it lifted and, at the end of the year, in addition to speaking in Portuguese, she found herself thinking and dreaming in it as well. She said, that after 30 years, the song came one day, without her having spoken the language in all that time. A Degree in Folksinging The day Lui returned from Brazil, her sister introduced her to the work of Joni Mitchell. "…sitting in my sister's Burlington apartment after my folks picked me up at the airport… They must have thought me terribly rude, as I immediately sat and listened to the entire album straight through. I still remember sitting in the chair reading the liner notes while I listened. It changed my life," she says. When she got to college in 1969, at the University of Connecticut, she began with a major in Music Theory, then later switched to Sociology. She played French horn in the orchestra, concert band and the marching band. Also, in college, a friend, Horace Williams, gave her guitar lessons in exchange for cooking him dinner. Playing out started slowly and then built up over time. At first she was playing informal dorm coffeehouses on the Storrs campus, then went on to play nearby local cafes such as "Blood and Bones" and The Sundown Inn. In her third year, she got an apartment off campus, in Coventry and, even more importantly, a car. This enabled her to play out more and in a wider variety of places. Following the Muse After graduation, she shocked her parents, telling them she wasn't going to seek regular employment, but would continue with a career playing music. After graduation she started playing 6 nights per week and had a steady gig in a cafe in Old Saybrook. Despite her propensity over the years to perform solo, at this point she performed with Horace as a duo for a couple of years. As her web site states: "In the mid-Seventies, Collins began to tour as part of a duo with a young folk singer named Horace Williams, Jr. They played a regular circuit around the best of New England's many folk clubs, and gained much respect for the sense of style and humor they brought to the burgeoning folk community. Collins started out singing covers of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez songs, but quickly started to include music that was written by what were then emerging artists, such as Greg Brown, Julie Snow and Stan Rogers. In fact Rogers, the late, great Canadian folk singer, once stated 'She sings my songs better than I do.'" The performing radius now extended to New Hampshire, and in 1975 she appeared at the then-reknown Folkway Music Club in Peterborough. Also, in addition to Horace she teamed occasionally with Bill Lauf and Guy Wolff. In 1978, she released her first album, Made in New England. Her second, Baptism of Fire, was released in 1981 Both were on Philo. Her third, There's A Light was released on Green Linnet Records in 1985. Family Ties Lui had gotten married in 1980. Her first child was born in 1981, the second in 1985, and the third in 1988. She took 3 years off completely, around 1986 to 1989 and while the children were young limited her touring considerably. However, she still wrote and in 1993 released Moondancer on her own label, Molly Gamblin Music. North of Mars followed in 1995 She describes her songwriting style as intuitive -- surrendering to the muse. When a song comes to her, she says she's learned to "Shut up and listen." A Rite of Passage Many of us have had to leave a relationship which, while secure, was painfully unfulfilling. For a songwriter, the crucible of loss is a rite of passage, and here, its ultimately necessary march to independence helped to forged Lui into the elegant poet/minstrel she is today. Her lyrical poignancy lights a candle for all of us. The slow dissolution of a hard-fought-for, eighteen-year marriage left its scars. Its effects, both coming and going, are alluded to in sometimes direct, sometimes oblique, but always poetic expression in two of her albums, 1997's Stone by Stone and 2000's Leaving Fort Knox. The rising awareness of the inadequacy of her existence emerges repeatedly. In "The Vision" on Stone by Stone, with the rising of her pain, she writes:
"Can I live my life for me awhile, I'm hoping? Call my body to the dance all on its own? Can the song sung in my head be satisfying? Can I claim my dreams and summon them home?
In "The Dark Silkie" on Leaving Fort Knox, the symbolism of the legendary seal-turned-human returning to the sea is unmistakable:
"Deep in her longingness, tears the mournful cry of Raven, tugs at her heartstrings with a call she can't deny… One glance behind her, but a moment's hesitation, she glides into the sea, her movements strong and sure."
A collection of published poems, Moon of Ripe Berries rounds out the period of transition. In The Precipice poems, breaking away, she writes
"…I cannot trust the nothingness, And holding that thought tightly for but a moment- I leap &endash; into the abyss"
Then, later, describing the emotional crash,
"Well, I leapt, but I did not fly, nor was I dashed to pieces on the rocks below… I lost my courage and my strength… caught a wingtip on a sudden swell… it spun me head over heels, wings flapping hysterically, before finally I plunged into the waters…"
Moving through the loneliness she writes:
"I wrest my joy in brief moments, from among the hours of life's cruelty, Like a quick breath in a dark and strident horn passage, in a Strauss concerto, Or the bobbing bright yellow head of a dandelion, pushing its way through a crack in cold concrete, So I wrest my joy where I may…"
And somewhere near the end of this lonely time of passage:
"I stand in silence, listening, as birds herald return of warmth, rejoice with them, and celebrate, the growing light."
The River Flows On In 1997, Lui relocated to the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. She performed extensively with singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dana Robinson. Together they released two limited edition collaborative recordings, Paired Down and Paired Down Vol. 2, in 1998 and 1999.Lui with Dana Robinson Today, Lui lives with her youngest daughter in a converted barn in Massachusetts. In addition to performing her music, she has established her own business, Hilltown Music Together, a local subsidiary of the national "Music Together" program, which uses Montessori-like methods to teach music. It involves both parent and child, the children's ages ranging from post-birth to 5 years old. She took the Music Together teacher training three years ago and founded Hilltown Music Together in the spring of 2003. With her own background, as a mother, at giving children's concerts and her depth of musical education, this seems like a natural fit. Lui's new CD, Closer, has been sent to Oasis for final production, It will be available shortly. The songs on the advance pressing sent to the author reveal a shimmering set of jewels, celebrating every aspect of her crossing to the hopeful place she has found for herself. It has 22 tracks -- ten songs alternating with ten poems and 2 banjo instrumentals. Some poems are from Moon of Ripe Berries and some appear to be newer. The first three tracks, two poems celebrating the arrival of spring, describing the riotous tumble of a creek swollen with the melted snow of a winter's ending, sandwich a joyously lilting cover of "Red, Red Robin." Each track is an homage to her steady growth and movement toward warmth, heading to the end of a cold passage. The last track, a staggeringly beautiful poem, reads like a triumphant victory lap, as these snippets may show:
"…round the last trees into my dooryard …I lift the latch to the woodshed door …turn to the nail on the wall to my right …these snowshoes have served me well …they deserve a good rest …I do believe spring has arrived…"
This is a keeper. Stay in touch at her web site: www.luicollins.com for news of its release and for upcoming concert appearancess. Thankfully, for those in our neck of the woods, we have a chance to see her with no delay. Lui will be performing at the Uptown Coffeehouse, 4450 Fieldston Road in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, on Sunday January, 8th at 7pm. See our listings for other details. We'll be there to welcome an inspiring artist to the area. We hope you'll join us! Other upcoming performances include: Feb 11 Coffeehouse 309 , Fall River, MA Feb 25 2pm Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, MA (978) 970-5027
The Great 2005 NERFA promo CD haul continued We couldn't rest easy, having left out a bunch of artists' very fine work in our NERFA promo CD synopses contained in the December '05 issue. To ease our conscience, here are some more: Erik Balkey &endash; Sanctuary Road: With not much more than a wisp of a voice, Erik Balkey dropped a career in Engineering off like so much dirty laundry and hit the road, painting houses and writing songs. Good thing, too. He gets better with each CD. This one features originals, co-writes and covers that deserve both the readers' attention and national radio airplay. Duke Levine, Dylan's guitarist is all over this one. Nice catch, Erik. The album leads off with a winner, "In Your Silence." Like many other wandering troubadors, songs about the road find their way into the repertoire. Nobody lives it more and does them better than Erik. The sparse electric piano is perfect here. An inspiring cover that especially deserves to be heard all over the airwaves is Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air." Erik's lead vocal is splendid. Howver, the stroke of genius is that he teams up with Chris Chandler who delivers a background rant that would peel the paint off a lot of corporate board rooms if given a chance. Renderings of Dave Carter's "Winter When She Goes" and Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" (a duet with Bonnie Lee Panda) are top-notch. There are also live tracks from the Kerrville Folk Festival that provide more excitement. Well worth owning. Antje Duvekot &endash; Little Peppermints, & Boys, Flowers, Miles: It's fortunate that Antje got to know some good engineering people. Much of her recording is done live, in order (one would think) to highlight the charm of being in her presence at an intimate coffeehouse performance. Her self-deprecating humor and sharp eye for observing the foibles of the passing flawed, mortal parade draws the listener in as surely as it does her live audience. On Boys, Flowers, Miles, her portrait of Judas Iscariot as a tortured school-age outcast, headed for a Columbine-sized meltdown is as clever as anything being written anywhere:
"Jesus, he was the schoolyard martyr, was every mother's perfect son… Not like Judas, in the back of the school bus, invisible to everyone…
I'd be curious to get the reaction of a few fire-breathing fundamentalists. The CDs are a good bet for starters and seeing her live is even better. The Laws &endash; Live at the Camp St. Cafe: The husband and wife team of John and Michele Laws begin their performance and the CD with "A long Way from Gone," a beautfully harmonized plaintive ballad. One could forgive a listener for mistaking "gone" for "home," since the show was in Crockett, Texas and they're from Canada. Harmony is the Laws' strong suit. They showcase it on most tracks. One exception is "Beaumont Rag" which features John's very capable flatpicking. When I suggested to the very tall and blonde Laws that they could be the Everly Brothers incarnate, John archly wondered aloud which brother his lovely wife Michele might be. Their impact in the U.S. has begun. Venue operators at NERFA took notice. They're appearing at the Finch Mountain House Concert on March 24th (see L.I. listings) Lisa Moscatiello &endash; Trouble from the Start: I got taken by surprise by the nature of this CD and Lisa's performance in our guerilla showcase, I'd only seen her do traditional fare with the Celtic group, Whirligig. This album features smoky, powerful pop ballads that deal with personal relationships. There's a "Great American Songbook" feel overall and it feels right, wrapped around her vocal chords. Some are more jazz-like than others. "Come Sinfonia" gives her a chance to demonstrate her Italian. "What happens After Love" features some very nice guitar breaks along with the organ-backed ensemble. Overall, it suits this author's taste range. This one will find its way into the CD player many times over. Steve Coleman &endash; Not Making Much Sense: For a CD admittedly "Recorded at Steve's House," this sounds damn good. It helps that Steve Coleman has a powerful tenor that should get him a lot of notice. The strummed-guitar-backed pop/rock flys along easily, riding stirring melodies through lyrics that are slightly obscure: "I believe in the ghost that comes / That brings you life half over" The meanings are personal reminiscences that may not reveal themselves to the listener, but Steve's vocals and melodies make the listening compelling. Sloan Wainwright and Friends &endash; On a Night Before Christmas: We made a huge error not getting this one into the last issue, since it's too late for anyone to pick this up and enjoy it during the holidays. Just the same, it's worth a try to make mention of it for next year. It's so good, it would make fine listening at any time. Sloan's big voice is tailor-made for Christmas anthems. Many selections on this CD are a step away from the usual, at least for this listener. The album starts off with an original by Sloan, "Iluminate" and it's gorgeous. Her voice soars, as it usually does on everything. Except where it rocks. The old Elvis chestnut, "Blue Christmas" gets the Sloan treatment and suffers not one whit. Long-time band member Stephen Murphy contributes some delightfully nasty lead guitar on this one as well as on Queen's "Thank God it's Christmas." Sloan-Friends Pete and Maura Kennedy do a nice job on Handel's "How Beautiful are the Feet." Most of the songs are off-beat, leading up to the final concession to tradition of "Silent Night." Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovians contribute on "Silver Bells." It's all fabulous; it's all magnificent. Do yourself a favor and get this one, no matter what season it is.