Dulcie Taylor Southern Comfort by Richard CuccaroPassion. We live in a sea of it. Some of us drown; most of us float, barely staying in place. Expressing it is a tightrope walk. Too many lean too far toward either banality or mawkish overexpression. The best singer/songwriters handle the emotional rollercoaster with intimate awareness and grace. Dulcie Taylor is one of these. At an afternoon showcase at the Northeast Folk Alliance Conference in the fall of 2005, Dulcie, with her sidekick, bassist/harmony vocalist Henry Cross, turned the guerilla showcase room into a honky-tonk with a shouldershaking, pulsating performance. Playing guitar and mountain dulcimer, she ripped through songs about love, need, a lost America and trains. Her southerncharm was irresistible. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when she picked up a bottle of beer and, taking a swig,alluded to polite society's rules about drinking before 5:00pm. She drawled, "Honey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!" Between her charm, her energy, her clear, sharp alto and the catchy hooks she employed, that afternoon she owned me. Carrying home her two CDs, Diamond and Glass and Mirrors and Windows, the spell continued. I ask myself, "What is it that that makes her writing and her musicality so special? Is it the embrace of the South; that connection with the rumble and heat of life?" Today, Dulcie lives in McLean, Virginia, but it was her childhood in Lexington, South Carolina gave her the foundation for an eventual life in music. Ukulele Heartbreak As a youngster, Dulcie's life was filled with music. Itsurrounded her. She described the expectations of her cultural surroundings this way: "Everybody took piano. I was the baby (I had two sisters) and my sisters were already ahead of me." The family's musical gene extended through generations and throughout the clan's various locations. She states: "I had one aunt who taught piano in North Carolina." When that aunt passed away, Dulcie called from California to order flowers for her funeral. The florist said, "Your aunt taught everybody in town how to play the piano!" She continued: "I had another aunt on my Daddy's side who sang on local radio. I had a cousin who played wonderful piano by ear. Everybody played something or sang. We really liked music at our house. There was always something on the record player. Some people liked country, some people liked Broadway show tunes, some people liked rock n' roll. My mother adored Elvis and Frank Sinatra. She loved Ella Fitzgerald." Dulcie started playing piano at age 5. The most influential music-related event in her early days had a strange, upsetting origin, but an eventual happy resolution. There was a ukulele lying around the house and she picked it up and learned how to play it. She wanted a guitar, but had to wait. At the age of 10, while staying with her family at the beach, a boy, a stranger, drunkenly wandered onto the porch and sat on the ukulele and crushed it. Dulcie was heartbroken. Her mother, to soften the blow, told her to be patient, and she'd get her something a little bigger. The following Christmas Dulcie's mother got her a guitar, so, as she says, "it all turned out all right. "…And I got the 'Big Book of Folk Music… or whatever … the 'big book of somethin'-or-other…' it had all 25 verses of 'Barbara Allen. Mother had to listen to them all." From 10 years old on, through grade school and high school, she continued to pick out songs and learn how to play them. "I'd listen to things on the radio and pick out my version of them." Her older sister, Brenda let her play all her records, The Beatles, Dylan, "all that wonderful stuff." Dulcie sang in the chorus in high school, but doesn't credit it with having a great deal of impact on her development. Nevertheless, her growth as a performer appeared to be taking shape at this point. She played in a duo with her guitar teacher, George Nauful. They played Dylan and Peter Paul and Mary, "stuff like that." They'd play cafes and were hired as featured performers at certain functions. George later produced her first CD and co-wrote with her, one song on it and joined the production team on her second CD. She went to college at the University of South Carolina where her development continued. Playing in bluegrass and rock bands, she expanded her repertoire and broadened her experience. Wanderlust Shortly before graduation, Dulcie reached the end of her emotional tether on the East coast. Suddenly, she needed to get away from the familiar, as far as she could get. California was the choice. She moved to Los Angeles shortly before completing her senior thesis. The university mailed her B.A. in History to her mom. When I asked "Why L.A.?," I got a typically "Dulcie" wry, sharp reply: "I wanted out… I wanted to go somewhere else… It was as far as you could go… You just run out of land." In L.A., she dipped into everything she could, playing in rock, bluegrass and country bands and dipping into the singer/songwriter genre as well. When an irresistable job opportunity for her husband turned up on the East coast, she moved back and began a solo career as a singer/songwriter …a fortunate turn for all of us. A Solo Act Her first CD, Diamond and Glass, released in 2002, is chock full of my favorite tracks. One is "I Have a Ring." Its lyrics are simple, but the string of minor and minor seventh chords render it one of the most haunting songs I've ever heard.
The streets of home seem smaller now Since my Mother passed away In my dreams I hear her call me Like the child I was yesterday She and Daddy had three children They were married twenty years They were divorced when I was little What is left now after the tears I have a ring Daddy gave Momma Back when their love was brand new I have a ring Daddy gave Momma As a promise to love her true
"Easy for You," the song that George Nauful cowrote has a deceptively simple lyric but is also gorgeously presented with minor chords and some wonderfully tasty electric lead guitar licks.
I could feel it this morning in the air I breathed Like a stillness just before the storm, ain't gonna be easy for me If I can pretend this is happening to someone else I'll get through this if I can fool myself I don't blame you, baby, for saying goodbye If your heart isn't in it, you surely got that right I don't blame you, baby, do what you have to do It just seems so easy for you Why is it so easy for you
While it's not listed in the lyrics, the bridge, scat-sung in two places, comes out like a sigh:
Lie, lie-aye, aye, lie-aye, aye…
The "bridge of lies" is appropriate to a tainted relationship and after the second time, the song fades with the lead guitar echoing an achingly sad farewell.Dulcie and Henry Cross are shown playing in an afternoon showcase at the 2005 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference. Dulcie's exuberance and intensity were on display throughout the performance. In the normal course of events, we all have to bid a final farewell to our parents. In "Goodnight 'Til Then," Dulcie recounts losing her mom in a poignant elegy:
Late, late night, telephone ring I hate that sound, I'm always scared of what it means Across a long distance hum A family voice is saying, "We need you to come home… …Goodnight, Mother, angels sing you to your rest I know you're up there watching a ballgame And smoking those cigarettes When my time comes I know I'll see you again Goodnight 'til then
Mirrors and Windows was released in 2004. It continues the theme of passion and love of life. "The Other Side of the Bed" begins as a response to a TV interviewer asking a guest what he wants for life. Dulcie responds for herself:
A meal when I'm hungry, a fire when I'm cold Good friends sharing the road …And you on the other side of the bed
Another favorite of this author is a rollicking paean to the railway, "Seaboard Train." Over harmonica and slide guitar she sings:
She comes flyin' every night through town So close, her wings could touch the ground How I love to hear her sing soprano through my dreams Seaboard train, seaboard train, won't you carry me home…
Call it folk/rock, country/rock, or just plain country. It works for me. Seeing this woman in concert is a treat not to be missed.Dulcie has garnered several honors. Taking a look at her web site, www.dulcietaylor.com, we learn:
• Dulcie's CD, Diamond and Glass, won a WAMMIE in 2003 for Best Contemporary Folk Recording (Washington Area Music Association). • A lover and writer of poetry, in 2002 Dulcie was elected to the Board of the Poetry Series at Washington, D.C.'s Folger Shakespeare Library. The Folger attracts scholars from around the globe, and is also home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, as well as magnificent collections of other rare Renaissance books and manuscripts.
Fresh from her appearance at Kerrville, she's playing around the D.C./Virginia area this summer, but we're sure to see her in the Northeast this fall. Venue operators know a good thing when they see it. Check our listings and her web site to find out where you can see this sparkler from the South.