CAROLINE HERRING
Golden Apples
Signature Sounds 2025

****

Caroline Herring hails from Mississippi and has logged a lot of time in Austin, but Golden Apples is the kind of album that will draw comparisons from across the acoustic music map. Think the strong vibrato of Buffy Ste. Marie, the control of Joan Baez, the country sensibilities of Gillian Welch, and the open melodies of Kate Wolf, and you’re still not there. There is, for example, a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Cactus Tree” that eerily reproduces Mitchell’s soaring upper register and vocal catches. Herring sings that one close to its Ur source, but she takes chances elsewhere. “Long Black Veil” has a sparser and grittier tune than is customary and she sings it the same way. By contrast she imbues blues standard “See See Rider” with an earnest sweetness, and covers the Cyndi Lauper hit “True Colors” with a bass-run hook that makes it sound like it began life as a country song. These remakes are supplemented by some nicely crafted originals such as “Tales of the Islander,” an homage to Louisiana folk artist Walter Anderson; and “The Great Unknown,” a surprisingly light melody—also evocative of young Joni Mitchell—inspired by Dante’s Inferno. If we must pick a genre, this one is acoustic country, but its bittersweet flavorings, its intelligence, and the mood-enhancing production of David Goodrich make this among the finest apples in the basket. It hits the record stores today.