CAROLINE HERRING

At the Newport Folk Festival last summer, Caroline Herring did a double take when introduced on stage as hailing from Washington, D.C., the city she’d moved to just days earlier. Startled, she recalls thinking, “Wait - I’m not from Washington. I’m from Texas!” Herring should be forgiven any momentary confusion of place. Now planning a move to Atlanta, the 33-year-old isn’t quite sure where home is anymore, but if Wellspring, her highly anticipated and poignant new album, is any indication, Texas and the South remain the sources of her inspiration.

Originally from Canton, Mississippi, Herring came to Austin in 1999 to pursue a Ph.D. in American Studies but found herself equally as drawn to the city’s rich musical culture. Encouraged by bluegrass legend Peter Rowan and local luminaries like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Tish Hinojosa, Herring began honing the songwriting and performing talents she’d developed while earning a Master’s in Southern Studies at Ole Miss. She recorded a demo, sent it to club owners all over town, and found one taker: Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, which offered her a three-week trial happy hour gig. This turned into two years of weekly Thursday shows, and that’s where Denby Auble, the founder of Blue Corn Music, eventually discovered the soul-stirring talent he’d been seeking to christen his new label.

Herring was still a struggling unknown in the glutted Austin singer-songwriter market when her debut, Twilight, was released on Blue Corn in October 2001. The album was an immediate hit in Austin, thanks to radio airplay on KGSR-FM and enthusiastic local reviews that praised Herring’s stellar songwriting, gorgeous alto, and adeptness with a variety of traditional musical styles. “Every couple of years,” one critic enthused, “a singer-songwriter moves to Austin and unexpectedly sets the town’s music scene on its ear.” Herring was named Best New Artist by the Austin American-Statesman in January, 2002, then took home Best New Artist honors at the Austin Music Awards that March during the SXSW.

Soon Herring found herself playing to packed houses and fielding invites from music icons like the Newport Folk Festival and Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival. Articles celebrating her estimable talents appeared in No Depression, Dirty Linen, and Texas Music, and suddenly prestigious venues such as Boston’s Club Passim, Denver’s Swallow Hill, Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage, and the Mercury Lounge in New York City opened their doors to Texas’s rising folk star. When Country Music Television (CMT) speculated that Herring “may well be the next big thing to emerge from the Live Music Capital of the World,” the singer joked, “I think my fifteen minutes are ticking.”

When Herring married in June 2002, her husband’s budding academic career required an abrupt move to the nation’s capitol. Herring essentially began anew. “She’d had such wonderful acceptance in Austin,” Auble says, “it was traumatic almost to move away from that – from her primary fan base, her band, her home.” Though Herring had achieved a level of acclaim that would thrill any emerging artist, she needed to prove herself again. The result was a yearlong stretch of solo performances and reality checks, reflected in Wellspring’s powerful closer, “Tacoma Blues.” During album production, Herring asked to record Tacoma Blues at the close of a lengthy studio session. Auble and producer Rich Brotherton were so moved; they went with the first take.

The stylistic diversity that captivated so many fans of Twilight has been broadened in surprising ways in Wellspring’s 11 original songs. Those who enjoyed Twilight’s country-inflected folk and bluegrass – and that album’s twilight view of a Southern childhood – will feel immediately at home with the rural, homespun folk of Wellspring’s opening gem, “Trace,” in which Herring recalls the history of an old friend’s home off the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. Eamon McLoughlin’s fiddle paints as vivid a picture as the lyrics, with references to barbed wire fences, moaning barnyard dogs, rusty nails in hands.

But just as listeners become oriented to the album, Herring surprises with the irresistible, rocking “Mortified.” “Musically, we wanted to broaden the scope on this album,” Brotherton says, “without stepping too far from Caroline’s roots. Her stuff could support it.” Kelly Willis adds background vocals to the country music classic, “Jewels.” “Colorado Woman” is sprightly and infectious roots pop that finds its narrator standing her ground in the face of life’s travails. The album’s centerpiece is “Mistress,” an achingly beautiful narrative of an East Texas slave and mistress to her plantation owner. “Mistress” showcases both Herring’s obvious strengths as a storyteller and her extraordinary vocal range – the “O Rachel” melodic hook in the chorus sweeping in and surprising the listener each time. “I’m most proud of this song,” Herring says.

Listeners might also find themselves captivated by the quirky and compelling “MGM Grand,“ a reflective Nanci Griffith-type composition enhanced significantly by the fresh touch of Mike Maddux’s accordion. Like the songs on Twilight, “MGM” is a slightly obscure lyric, more poetic, inviting interpretation. “The Way That You Are,” on the other hand, is classic country weeper. “Heart and Soul,” another song that underwent a studio metamorphosis, is luxurious contemporary pop, Riley Osbourn’s organ providing the ideal backdrop for Herring’s impassioned delivery. Her lyrics, and the musical delivery, remain solid: “Not even hurricanes,” she sings, “can keep us from hearing the song.”

“This album has more of a relationship bent to it,” Herring says. The source of the album’s title comes from “Magnolias,” a charming country folk paean to her new husband. “Caroline’s marriage,” Brotherton says, “has clearly been a source of great strength for her. She’s more confident, more mature as an artist.” Still, as a new wife with a new career in a new town, Herring found herself at times yearning for the strength and sustenance of home. “Texas - Austin, specifically - was the source from which so much good came for me,” Herring says. “And that’s what a wellspring is, I think. Texas helped me get to some source so I could start writing.” Twilight’s frequent bird imagery has been replaced by water imagery on Wellspring – a nod, in part, to the springs and rivers of central Texas.

Booking Contact: Class Act Entertainment / P.O. Box 160236 / Nashville, TN 37216

Ph: 615-262-6886 / Fax: 615-262-2974

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