how I discovered them: female singer-songwriter edition

[calimac]

1) It's 1979 or thenabouts, and sturgeonslawyer is my housemate. One day he goes to the record store, where they're playing something he likes so much he buys a copy, brings it home, and insists on playing it for me. He chooses the first song on side 2: simple acoustic guitar, strong woman's voice singing wry, witty observations on everyday life: "I sit down on the train with my big pocketbook, my guitar, and a sugar-free drink ..." I'm charmed, also by the rest of the album. I borrow it a lot, and eventually buy my own copy.

And that is how I discovered the Roches.

2) It's a year later. I'm buried in the UW library reading magazine articles on the Roches. Among other things I'm looking for names of other performers they're compared to. This is how I discovered Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

3) It's 1985. I'm eating dinner at an upscale hamburger joint called Fuddrucker's, in suburban Chicago. Their menu is printed on newsprint in the format of a newspaper arts section, complete with, among other things, record reviews. One is for the first album of a singer-songwriter I've never heard of. It compares her to the Roches. I take note of the name, and buy the album when I get home.

I listen to the first track. Uh ... I'm not so sure about this. Second track, the same; third track, ditto. Then I get to the fourth track. That's it. Delicate and beautiful just the way I like it. The title is "Small Blue Thing."

And that is how I discovered Suzanne Vega.

4) It's a couple years later. Still looking for ersatz Roches, I pick up a CD sampler of 20 folkie singer-songwriters. Nineteen of them don't catch my interest in the slightest. Most of them aren't folk at all, but country. (They twang. I just can't stand twanging.)

The twentieth song is something different: urban and witty. It wins my attention and delight instantly. It's called "Cold Pizza for Breakfast."

And that is how I discovered Christine Lavin.

Comments

[handworn.livejournal.com]

I'll have to listen to them (except Christine Lavin, who I knew of already). Have you tried Cheryl Wheeler? My family discovered her from her being on that 2-CD set "Shelter" put out, I think, by Putumayo. Some of the ones on Shelter were "twangy" and like you describe, but many were quite good.

Zoe Mulford is also good. You can read about her here (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mulford).