Headliners
Megan Palmer finds her second album in the California desert
By John Ross
WILL SHILLING PHOTO
Joshua Tree, California, sits nestled in the Mojave Desert, in a lonely expanse trickling east from the bustle of the coast to a land of sagebrush and wind, scorched boulders and the short, bristly trees that gave the homestead town its name.
It can be a lonely place, and lonely can be good for a person.
For Megan Palmer, a short vacation in the desert refuge of 9,000 people became three days of continuous recording and, eventually, the foundation for her second record. The local musician would put some finishing touches and other tracks on Take You Away, but this music comes from Joshua Tree—born of solace, focus, time to think.
"I just needed to go somewhere else," Palmer said her time out West. "I needed to do these songs by myself out somewhere far away. You can hear the wind and the chimes and everything on the record."
Debut disc Forget Me Not succeeded in putting the veteran accompanist on her own two feet, but it was a meandering affair that took two years to complete. This project, she said, was liberating in its simplicity: She'd sit down with an instrument at a friend's place, mic up and play whatever ran through her head.
"I don't want to say this is a live record, but the takes are very live," she said. "I didn't obsess over everything. I wasn't nervous when I was recording. I was just playing the songs, and then I'd decide if they were something later on."
They are something indeed.
Only a coffee cup and a good set of ears were needed to enjoy Palmer's first solo offering, a beautiful and plaintive record that borrowed flashes from the roots and folk groups she plays with locally. Her follow-up is another intimate series of vignettes profiling a woman confident enough to put her life down on tape.
On "Deadman," "Matador" and "Davey," she meets head-on life, death, pain and promise with an elixir of acoustic folk and brilliant electronic flashes. Her sound evokes the primal wanderlust of vintage country and folk, though she polishes the homey edges into something more relevant.
"The first record was paying tribute to all the people that I grew up listening to," she added. "Through that process, I learned what it meant to sound like myself. It takes a while."
On Take You Away, Palmer plays piano, guitar and her trademark fiddle. Percussion, bass, guitar and piano are offered by "The Joshua Tree Band," whom she described as a casual campfire bunch working in a studio.
Influences range from Jack Johnson's simple island sound to the complexity of Beth Orton to the bedroom folk of Tim Easton, who played on and co-produced the record. Nods are also given to the spirit of Townes Van Zant and Mississippi John Hurt, whom she covers.
This is music that could be made only among really good friends—the kind of record that requires liner notes thanking people by nickname and crediting appearances by "Vic's dog and Bingo's cat."
"I just did what came naturally," she said. "This was what was going through my head at the time. It came together quicker than I thought."
Three's Company
Local musician Megan Palmer will celebrate the release of her second solo album, Take You Away, with three shows at Andyman's Treehouse in Grandview, featuring an all-star band: Erin Gilliland (violin), Elizabeth Blockinger (violin), Jennifer Miller (vocals), Larry Cook (bass) and Steve Purcell (percussion).
"I have all these great musicians, and I wanted to do more than one night," Palmer said. Here's the lineup for each show.
Thursday, November 15: Megan Palmer and friends; Miss Molly
Friday, November 16: Megan Palmer and friends; Luther Wright; Joe Kile
Saturday, November 17: Megan Palmer and friends; Church of the Red Museum; Luther Wright
Where: Andyman's Treehouse, Grandview
Web: meganpalmer.com
November 15, 2007
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