Album: Golden Apples Of The Sun / Caroline Herring /  12 tracks

 

Reviewed by Mike O'Cull

 

Flavor is the real key to success when it comes to singer/songwriters. It’s nice when they have a great voice or are excellent instrumentalists, but what it comes down to at the end of the day is how interesting a given performer can make the sum of their influences. Caroline Herring is a good example of the positive side of the flavor equation. A product of the Austin, TX music scene, Herring is equal parts modern, post-Joni Mitchell folk and Gillian Welch-ish old school Americana, which sounds like a set of influences that would pull a performer in conflicting directions, but Herring makes it work very well. On her latest release, Golden Apples Of The Sun, she displays different sounds on different songs rather than try to cram all her sounds into the same composition and that makes a ton of difference.

 

Golden Apples Of The Sun is an intimate listen, with Herring on guitar, banjo and vocals, with only producer / multi-instrumentalist David Goodrich providing backup on the sessions. This less-produced approach keeps the focus of the album on the songs and their moods, while helping to pull the listener into the internal world of each song.

 

Golden Apples Of The Sun has many highlights, including Herring’s take on classics such as, “Long Black Veil,” and “See See Rider,” which she twists to her own will, rather than giving them the usual treatments.  Herring adds to the mix an acoustic rendering of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” and she sets to music, the William Butler Yeats poem “Song Of The Wandering Aengus.” 

 

Caroline Herring’s original songs hold up well while sitting in the company of the aforementioned heavyweights and tunes such as “The Dozens,” and “Tales Of The Islander,” which demonstrate that Herring is at least the equal of the artists whom she chooses to cover.  Golden Apples Of The Sun illustrates that Caroline Herring is capable of taking the various musical elements which have influenced her, and in turn create refreshing acoustic music, which combines respect for tradition, with a more modern feel.

 

 

Reviewed December 2009

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