CARRIE NEWCOMER - The Slender Thread - 2LP
Musicians on "The Slender Thread":
Carrie Newcomer - lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar / Gary Walters - piano, marimba / Ian Melrose - guitar, percussion / Jean Kelly - Irish harp / Lutz Möller - keyboards / Jens Kommnick - tin-whistle, ocarina, mandola / Manfred Leuchter - accordion / Beo Brockhausen - hang / Lea Morris - backing vocals / Sven von Samson - percussion / Hans-Jörg Maucksch - fretless bass
Carrie Newcomer is a songwriter, recording artist, performer and educator. A friendly, un-dogmatic but at the same time deep spirituality is at the core of her artistry.
She has been described as a “prairie mystic” by the Boston Globe and a person who “asks all the right questions” by Rolling Stone, and "She's the kind of artist whose music makes you stop, think and then say, that is sooo true ...” (The Dallas Morning News).
Carrie Newcomer
"Every day we are living moments of grace and wonder, shadow and light. These are the moments I write about."
All of this alone would be impressive, but it is Carrie’s deep and warm voice which ultimately dissolves any resistance and pulls you in, never to let you go. There is a reason why she is often compared to iconic singers such as Karen Carpenter or Mary Chapin Carpenter: “a voice as rich as Godiva chocolate” (The Austin Statesman).
Once upon a time there was a singer from a far-off country who was fair of face and sang with the voice of an angel. Her name was Newcomer, although she possessed a rich store of artistic experience. The master troubadours of Stockfisch heard of this wonderful songstress, and because in a fairy-tale nothing is impossible, they waved their wands and whisked her over the wide, wide ocean to ultimately land in the fabled acoustic cavern of Northeim. There they enhanced her golden voice with lutes, flutes and other fabulous instruments ...
The wonderful thing is: this is not a fairy tale, or more correctly, for the poets, dreamers, and connaisseurs (actually for all of us), this is a fairy-tale come true! With its warm, catchy tunes and mellow, autumnal glow, The Slender Thread, Newcomer's debut album on Stockfisch, can easily become a habit ...
One can't help getting the impression - Carrie Newcomer has a gift for happiness. For the artist herself, incidentally, her songs are old friends – they stand for her friendship with life, people and not least with music. The Slender Thread beckons with the promise of a good friend in the making - or perhaps a whole group of good friends in these songs and melodies that are sure to get stuck in your head.
Despite all harmony - more reflective themes are touched upon too. But in such a way that her gift of happiness is contagious: it rubs off on us too!
Tracklist
1 I Believe
2 There is a Tree
3 Geodes
4 The Slender Thread
5 Cedar Rapids 10 AM
6 If Not Now
7 Sparrow
8 The Wind Does Not Understand Glass
9 Longing
10 The Gathering of Spirits
11 Haunted
12 The Weight of Water
13 Bare to the Bone