Old genre is new folkie's Hall of fame
By Daniel Gewertz/Folk/Blues
Friday, October 3, 2003



In a scene overfilled with Ani DiFranco clones, Rebecca Hall is a true rarity: a new folk classicist. From her sweet, unadorned soprano to her storytelling repertoire, Hall is an old-fashioned girl. Even her attire seems to come from some skirt-and-stocking folk-bohemia, circa 1962. Think very early Judy Collins, before she became celestial.



How did Hall become a woman removed from her own time? The genesis of Hall's music can be traced to the re-release of Harry Smith's ``Anthology of Folk Music,'' the same discs that inspired a whole generation of 1950s and '60s folkies.



``Anthology,'' a peerless collection of 1920s and '30s Appalachian folk, early hillbilly and country blues, was re-released in 1997, 45 years after its initial appearance.



``It was my source of inspiration. I liked the stark realism, the simplicity, the directness,'' said Hall, a Boston native who has lived in New York City since 1990.



Before listening to``Anthology,'' Hall sometimes sang in public, but as a lounge act accompanied by a pianist. Her repertoire was jazz and blues. But after she heard ``Anthology'' in 1997, Hall learned guitar and began writing songs for the first time.



``I was in awe of the songs on the anthology. A song seemed an unapproachable mountain to me. But those old folk songs were very highly structured and I began thinking of separate lines, separate parts. I jotted down thoughts, outlined songs. The idea of structure helped me. Also, I thought: No one's going to hear these, it's just me on my couch,'' Hall said.



But soon, her friends encouraged her to share her ballads with the world. A CD, ``Rebecca Hall Sings,'' was recorded, very simply, with her husband, bassist Ken Anderson. ``It was recorded on a little four-track machine at our walk-up apartment on First Avenue. You can hear some street noise,'' Hall said. ``At first, I thought I'd only give it out to friends.''



Despite its primitive technology, the CD began getting airplay on folk radio, including Boston's WUMB-FM (91.9). Musicians such as Roger McGuinn, Laura Cantrell and David Olney became boosters. A more sophisticated follow-up CD, ``Sunday Afternoon'' (Listen Here Records), also was recorded in Hall's flat, but with modern Pro Tools equipment.



For all their sweetness, there's a haunting element in the best of Hall's ballads. ``Characters pop into my head and want me to tell their story. If I don't write about them, they'd just annoy me,'' she said.



Hall opens for Cheryl Wheeler at Framingham's Uncommon Coffeehouse tonight (call 508-872-3318). On Oct. 24, she opens for Mark Erelli at Club Passim.



Hall portrays herself as an accidental recording artist on a career path she never planned. But her early background laid a perfect groundwork for the retro-folkie. Hall grew up in Boston's South End, the daughter of mission keepers.



``My parents still run a mission in Boston, the Emmanuel Gospel Center. I grew up singing gospel and hymns. I'm lapsed as far as the religion, but I've always liked the music,'' she said.



BACK TO THE `FUTURES': The hype on John Gorka's last CD, ``The Company You Keep,'' claimed it was the melancholy troubadour's comeback album after a lackluster period. I thought ``Company'' was a fairly weak album bolstered by lots of fun guest cameos. The new Gorka CD, however, ``Old Futures Gone'' (Red House) is a genuine comeback. ``Old Future'' is a major song, a graceful statement about our society's unrealized dreams, our unraveled blueprints of Utopia, our faded vision of a better tomorrow.



Gorka's vocals have changed: They've lost some of that quality of constant poignance that could grow too much. His new approach is more dry and straightforward, and less is more. Sure, there are still some songs weakened by overly cute rhymes, and an awkward merging of funny and serious. But this is the work of a maturing artist. Gorka and Mary Gauthier sing at the Somerville Theatre tomorrow.



LIVE & FAVORED: Matt and Shannon Heaton, formerly two-thirds of Siucra, bring their brilliant, American-bred Irish folk to Club Passim on Thursday to celebrate their debut CD as a duet, ``Dearga''. . . One of the Celtic events of the season, the annual concert by Capercaillie, occurs at the Somerville Theatre tonight . . . The best blues pianist in New England, David Maxwell, brings an unbeatable crew to the Regattabar in Cambridge tomorrow, Nicole Nelson and ``Sax'' Gordon Beadle among them . . . Poland's Cracow Klezmer Band, one of the world's most innovative klezmer outfits, makes its area debut at Johnny D's in Somerville on Wednesday.