Liz Simmons - Poets (Album Review)
I’m not entirely sure what it is about the best folk/roots music, but it seems to me to get it right you need experience. By experience, I don't just mean being able to play really well, as I consider that a given, it’s more about an appreciation for what has come before, and possibly the most important thing of all, is an experience of life in general. In the sleeve notes to ‘Poets’ Liz Simmons thanks her parents for the itinerant lifestyle of her early years travelling the length and breadth of America in a sky blue VW bus. From the wharfs of San Francisco to the pubs of Ketchum, Alaska before settling in New England Simmons’ early life was a whirlwind of travel and music; be it folk, rock n’ roll or the New Orleans influenced tunes her parents played nightly in the pub.
A few years later after a brief dalliance with classical music, Liz founded Low Lily with her husband Flynn Cohen and Lissa Schneckenburger - both of whom contribute to ‘Poets’ – and the trio has toured internationally and garnered multiple awards along the way. ‘Poets’ was originally set for release in the summer of 2020 but the pandemic intervened causing inevitable delays. Undaunted Liz (who self-produced) and her team pushed on, and music from recording sessions undertaken in Vermont and New Hampshire crossed the Atlantic to be mixed and mastered in the UK. It’s this attention to detail and patience that shines through on ‘Poets’ with the care taken to get things right almost palpable.
The ideas that shaped the album are best explained by Liz who said “Audiences tell me over and over again how important it is to them to hear music that speaks to them, and how meaningful it is. That reflection that music creates– that connection– is the magic of music, and the stories we tell as musicians. That is why I have called the album ‘Poets’. Each song tells a story through its lyrics, but also through its musical arc, its history and my connection to it” The songs on ‘Poets’ include five originals written or co-written by Liz and four carefully chosen covers that come together and flow beautifully as a collective that embraces Liz’s musical influences and pairs those influences with an appreciation for the natural world, people and places.
A well-chosen cover can be a blessing on a record but, equally, it can overshadow the rest of the material (songs are worth covering for a reason, the reason being they’re great songs) but Liz does a fantastic job of arranging and interpreting four songs here that might on lesser records, or in less skilled hands, have been a misjudgement. Sandy Denny’s ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ is a case in point as it was voted the most popular folk song ever in a 2007 BBC poll and has been covered by many, many artists over the years. Liz’s take on the song has a stately grace, her phrasing is excellent and Pete Grant (Grateful Dead/Guy Clark) adds suitably tasteful pedal steel to proceedings. It’s an excellent take on a great song. I’m not familiar with the original version of ‘My Love Lies In The Ground’ by Dirk Powell but with a hot band that features Lissa Schneckenburger and Emerald Rae on fiddle and Wes Corbett on banjo this haunting tale of someone who seems willing to dig up their recently deceased lover for one last kiss is rather unsettling but then I’ve been listening to Amigo The Devil all week so I’m perfectly happy to be along for the ride. Liz’s fractured high vocal is especially effective in conveying the surviving lovers' despair. Covering Joni Mitchell should always be approached with caution; thankfully Liz skips the obvious and settles on ‘Night In The City’ and does a fine job on the arrangement with Hannah Sanders adding a second vocal while Natalie Haas’ cello is to the fore complimenting Liz’s acoustic guitar and Liz’s son Gabe Bradshaw does a fine job standing in for Stephen Stills on bass. The covers are completed by a wonderfully playful string band take on ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’ with Liz, Dunia Best and Nicole Zuraitis having fun with those Supremes harmonies and finger snaps while Flynn Cohen’s mandolin, Wes Corbett’s banjo and the double bass of Corey DiMario prove to be the perfect accompaniment. ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’ is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Moving onto the original material album opener ‘When The Waters Rise’ sets the scene perfectly as themes of climate change and the pull of home are delivered with close-miked intimacy via Liz’s sweet, clear voice ( the harmonies are especially finely judged) and Andy Hall’s insistent dobro. Nicole Zuraitis’ piano forms the centrepiece of ‘Poets’ as Liz’s exemplary phrasing and pleasing vocal inflexions recount a tale set in a DC coffee shop. Nicole’s piano is again featured on ‘Sailing In To Shore’ where her additional light airy vocal contribution has an ethereal quality in harmony with Liz. Things are stripped back markedly as Liz takes over on piano and is joined by Natalie Haas’ cello on ‘Adventurer’ with its lyrical nod to Homer (Greek poetry not Simpson). It’s a noticeable recurring theme of Liz’s songs that travel and returning home play an important role, especially in association with seafaring (historically a folk song staple) and perhaps unsurprisingly ‘Sailing To The Shore’ and ‘Home From The Storm’ were both inspired by the coastal city of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Reminiscent of Lene Marlin, the hugely underrated Norwegian singer and songwriter, the album concludes with the utterly gorgeous aforementioned ‘Home From The Storm’. Sonically it’s a slight departure from what has gone before as Gabe Bradshaw adds subtle electric guitar and synth to Liz’s acoustic guitar and piano with mesmerising results. Multi-instrumentalist Gabe pops up throughout the album and engineered the Vermont sessions for this record, he’s definitely one to watch out for in the future.
‘Poets’ is an exquisite record from an artist with full command of her most precious instrument; her voice, which she utilizes beautifully, often in partnership with multiple harmony partners to great effect. Add in sympathetic production and a host of the very best players from the folk and bluegrass community and you’ve got an album that I urge you to seek out at the earliest opportunity.
One of the positive aspects of running Red Guitar Music is that you encounter all manner of different musical genres that you wouldn’t necessarily find on your own. The RGM Inbox is positively overflowing with the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly (although something we find unlistenable is probably the best thing in the world to someone). One example that falls squarely in the good category of pleasant surprises is The Happy Couple, discovered on a recent visit to London’s Green Note, where the duo opened for Dimple Discs labelmate Kelsey Michael.