This window makes a perfect frame
for New York buildings like a train
They hold me like I hold the rain
All shadows on a dime
Ferron from Shadows on a Dime
Her voice is a reed instrument made of liquid, a golden clarinet reaching through deep mists. Her lyrics spin volumes of poetry with each line, conjuring up forgotten emotions, suppressed memories, avenues of the soul you've never travelled before, or dreamscape corridors you are still learning about. Ferron is a singer / songwriter possessed of haunting melody and daunting honesty. Caution. Do not enter the world of Ferron's music unless you are prepared to feel, to open up to your darkest emotions and to the recesses of your heart. She's been categorized as Women's Music, and while it's fair to say that Ferron's is a beloved voice in the Lesbian culture, there is nothing about her music that is in any way limited exclusively to the interests of women, gay, straight or otherwise. It is a pigeon hole that has helped her to find a devoted base of listeners, but has also perhaps held her back from the wider recognition she so richly deserves. Ferron is one of the greatest recording artist alive today, and yet she is known by a relative handful who have had the good grace to discover her.
A native of Canada, Ferron began singing as a teenager in the 1970's, but was so painfully shy that she could not even look at the audience, which is quite remarkable considering that over the years she has developed such an enthusiastic connection that crowds everywhere are willing not only sing along -- sometimes even with the opening tune of the show -- but also to do things like jingle their keys as a group percussion section upon her request. After two limited-run vanity recordings, she released her first studio album, Testimony, in 1980. It caused a sensation among those who heard it, making many critics' Top Ten lists with reviewers all across the continent registering awe at the tremendous talent pouring forth from this relatively obscure artist. The New York Times called her "one of the most powerful voices to emerge out of the post-folk genre known as Women's Music." The Boston Globe expected her to become established as one of the significant voices of the 80's. By the time of her 1984 release Shadows on a Dime, the raves rolled in on tidal waves. This from Rolling Stone, "...a feast of excellent musicianship and fine songwriting," from the Village Voice, "...an original who weaves autobiography, observations and dreams through her genuine fascination with life's quirks," and again the Washington Post chose Ferron as,’...the first major artist to emerge from the ranks (of Women's Music)." It was the Boston Globe who printed the oft-repeated praise," Some day they'll be saying that Dylan was the Ferron of the Sixties."
I give when the givings easy
but then I crack when the gives too hard
I adore the distant hazy
but I run when it's in my yard
Ferron from Phantom Center
A decade and several albums later, Ferron still has not garnered the kind of international acclaim that is her due, while artists with similar interests and skill such as Joan Armatrading, Nancy Griffith and Jane Siberry have basked in the glow of radio's limelight. But then, we're talking about radio, the same medium that has all but ignored the likes of Mark Heard, the brilliant singer / musician / songwriter / producer who left a catalog of almost 20 excellent albums before his untimelydeath at the age of forty, the same medium that left the genius of Van Dyke Parks to sink into total obscurity throughout a career than has spanned almost three decades. And it was radio, at least American radio, that refused to acknowledge the unrestrained extraordinary output of Kate Bush until she teamed up with Peter Gabriel on a duet after she had written and produced a half dozen albums that topped the charts in England.
And so, Ferron's music has faced the same conservative ear of American radio, perhaps scared off by the Women's Music label -- which has also kept deserving artists like Chris Williamson, Holly Near and Suede pretty much off the air as well. But now, the EarthBeat division of Warner Brothers, Ferron's current label, has re-released new mixes of her 1990 offering Phantom Center, a break out album which featured some of Ferron's most rhythmic, radio-ready tracks. When it was first released on the Chameleon label five years ago, there was an attempt to market "Heart of Destruction" as a single. With this new go 'round, EarthBeat is banking on a powerful rearrangement of "Stand Up (Love in the Corners)" as the ear-catcher for radio play. Several local stations such as i-100 FM and WVBR have picked up on it.
Ferron has also developed a new live concert package. Whereas Ferron used to appear just by herself on acoustic guitar, or with a spare and tasty accompaniment by a couple of back-up musicians -- guitar and cello, or synthesizer -- her current Phantom Center tour consists of a full band with bass, keyboards, cello, guitar and drums. This is quite a different kind of show for Ferron, as she demonstrated at the Community School of Music and Art Annex on Friday, Oct. 22. She still possesses one of the most heart rendering voices imaginable, and her lyrics are still among the most soul searching and honest, but somehow,the BIG presentation seems to get in the way of the charming intimacy that use to imbue her stage shows. This is one performer who sings about very personal visions, and who is able to leave her audiences feeling like they've gotten know her, as she guides them through discovering lost pieces of themselves. And while her power is certainly still intact, and her brilliance, and while the musicians on stage with her excel in their individual crafts, somehow the presentation seems cluttered, distracting. Yes, we can more easily dance to her music now, and yes, it sounds alot more like stuff that the radio might play, still somehow the clear oboe of her voice is competing with all those other sounds.
To be sure, Ferron's live show is still well worth the price of a ticket. She'd be worth seeing if accompanied by a high school marching band and six Seattle grunge groups. It's just different than the Ferron who so easily stole the hearts of her devoted fans.
And I found that all the world could love you save for one
And I don't know why it is, but that kiss will be the haunted one
and you'll pine and weep and you'll lose good sleep
and you'll think your life has come undone
Until you learn to turn and spurn that bitter wind
Ferron from Cactus
It would be most unfortunate if in the quest for commercial success the personal bond that connected Ferron to her audience was lost. There are few performers who can manage that kind of sincerity, especially performers who have such a capacity for revealling truth and exploring raw emotions. Her 1994 album, Cactus (EarthBeat) demonstrated a vocal and lyrical maturity that was truly astounding given the high accomplishments of her previous work. With a now stable domestic relationship and a new child in her life, the roles of partner and mother seemed to have honed the edge of Ferron's observations to a surgical perfection unmatched in her earlier offerings. Cactus easily represents one of the best albums of this decade, regardless of catagory. Perhaps reworking Phantom Center is an honest attempt to polish some of the nuances that were left rough when it was first recorded five years ago, and certainly the album is as deserving of appreciation as the rest of Ferron's catalog. Yet, it is in her newer output that we can see the continuing growth of this prodigious master and her fans can only hope that her future projects will reflect not only a facility with radio readiness, but also the brilliance of that same amazing star that has lit her path all along the way. As she herself put it in the song "Sunken City:" To be what you are is one thing / To be what you want -- now that's something else.
Outquote:
This is one performer who sings about very personal visions, and who is able to leave her audiences feeling like they've gotten know her, as she guides them through discovering lost pieces of themselves.