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Musicians
aim for something bigger than just themselves
By Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard Published: Friday, February 24, 2006 Sunday's show (Feb 26, 2006) will be the first time Northwest folk artists TR Kelley, Brian Cutean and Carolyn Cruso share a stage. Each will play a 20-minute solo set, then move into a round robin format, singing songs in turn. "You may have your set list," Cruso says of the round robin, "but then your fellow songwriter does a piece that inspires you to sing another that is in a similar vein." Kelley points out another advantage of this format: Three performers attract more people than one. "Our individual audiences get exposed to new music from the other performers, a cross-pollination," Kelley says. "All three of us have different styles and audiences with little cross- over." Kelley plays electric baritone guitar in what she calls a "folk-jazz-experimental style." The veteran of the Raventones and Babes With Axes is dubbed the "diva of deep," for both the sound and content of her songs. Cruso is known for playing the hammer dulcimer, but she will leave that at home in Orcas Island, Wash., in favor of an acoustic guitar and maybe a flute. Eugene-based poet and musician Cutean is a traveling wordsmith and storyteller, a mod- ern-day minstrel. For the occasion, we invited each performer to share insight by way of e-mail into the songwriting process. Cruso writes while driving A little trick Cruso has picked up for when an idea strikes at a time inopportune for writing: She calls her home phone with her cell phone and sings melodies into her voice mail. "It's important to document the idea, especially since it might be awhile before I get back to it," she says. "I write a lot while driving - mostly in my head, but sometimes I actually am writing on paper with a pen. "Could be dangerous I suppose, but I only do it when I am driving in the middle of basically nowhere." After returning from a tour is an inspired time for Cruso. "All the experiences, the new people I've met and places I visited, the charmed encounters, and trancelike state that driving induces, begin to ferment," she says. Because she can read, but can't write music, a tape recorder is helpful, too. She says she also likes to write when she first wakes up. "I am still in partial dream state, which is so metaphoric and rich in images." Nature and what she calls "challenging life journey issues" - loss, betrayal, loneliness and transformation - are other sources of inspiration. Most of her songs, both lyrical and instrumental, are serious in tone. So she has given herself an assignment to write lighter. "Occasionally, I give myself writing assignments, or am given them by artist friends," she says. Cutean embraces the "mystery" "I am always writing something, whether it is a song or some other poetic pose," Cutean says. "I am intrigued by the sound and cadence of words, as well as their meanings, implied and construed." He says he gets more writing done in winter, when he travels less. Still, because songs occur at anytime, he tries to capture them when they come. "Sometimes I can be in that receptive state when I am chopping an onion for dinner," he says. "Then it is all about leaving the onion and making myself available to that opening door." He endeavors to stay as true to the original impulse as he can. "It is enough to be open to it and receptive, listening and engaged," he says. "I like the mystery of the process and do not strive to make sense of it all. "I can be inspired by word-thought concepts, light angle, two or three notes of music (in my head or in the traffic of a busy day), a life experience, feelings colliding, realizations, a train whistle or conversation - or nearly anything, really." Some songs are fully formed when they first emerge, he says. Others develop the more he sings them. "Some days my shoes feel funny and I can write easier, or I wake up full of amazing dreams. It all goes in the pot and bubbles over eventually. ... "It is all a mystery to me." "I write when a song shows up," Kelley says. "They come anytime, and you must be ready to grab the idea and invite it to stay by giving it some interesting sounds to stick to." A former instrumentalist, Kelley still gets musical ideas before words come. "I never sit down and 'write' a song, like a person would do a journal exercise," she says. "I'm autistic. Words are not my native language; sound pictures are. So I write with the tape-recorder on, ... jamming until an idea comes." For Kelley, ART stands for "always roll tape." "Editing is the final step, strip it down to only what needs to be said. On the other hand, if you feel you have to explain to a listener what a song is about, you're not done writing it yet." She writes about death and depression, absurdity and injustice, the quest for understanding, the experience of being a lifelong outsider in a strange world. "I used to write about unrequited and unfulfilled love, a universal subject for most humans, but one I am personally done with," she says. "I rarely play anything the same way twice. Live performance is often a vital part of the writing process itself. If I cannot emotionally relate to a song anymore in a fresh and vital way, I won't perform it. If people want to hear it over and over, they can buy the record." Readers can reach Serena Markstrom at 338-2371 or smarkstrom@guardnet.com CONCERT PREVIEW |
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