Alice Howe: Artist of the Month

 

April’s Artist of the Month is a no-brainer. On Circumstance, Alice Howe shows how to make a folk/soul/country album that sounds like something special. “No histrionics” is a tag often applied to Howe and it’s apt. Unlike the oh-too-young singers who land in LA, Nashville, and Austin and think that drama is produced by volume alone, Howe understands that the key is to sing a song from the inside out. Her articulation is superb, a small detail that allows the deeper edges of her voice to shine and burnish her compositions.

 

On Circumstance, two other things stand out. First of all, she recorded it at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and makes no bones about chasing the ghosts of Aretha Franklin and Etta James around the sound stage. Second, she collaborated with Freebo, the professional handle of David Friedberg, who has recorded and toured with a veritable who’s who of the music world: Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, the McGarrigles, John Mayall, Crosby, Stills, and Nash… the list goes on. How many musicians do you know who drag out a tuba to go with their bass and guitar?

 

These days Los Angeles tries to claim Howe, but she’s from Newton, Massachusetts, grew up summering in Vermont, and graduated from Smith College so sorry, California, she’s a New Englander! You might know Howe from her 2017 EP You’ve Been Away So Long, the title track of which she reworks on Circumstance. (She also recorded two previous LPs.)  Check out how she mixes the lyrics-forward style of folk music with a bluesy country feel. Then watch her turn an NPR studio into a socks-on-the-sofa blues joint in “Travelin’ Soul.” Observe how she turns it up a notch higher still when she steps inside Muscle Shoals to take advantage of a studio band on “Somebody’s New Lover Now.” Somehow, she doesn’t sound totally devastated by her change of fortune! To circle back to the no-histrionics comment, notice how she airs it out without resorting to the vocal equivalent of playing air guitar. It’s a formula she repeats to great effect on “Love Has No Rules.”

 

If you prefer a more acoustic touch, “Let Go” will answer. As you watch this clip, ask yourself how many people sound this strong and clear when singing outside on a breezy day. “Things I’m Not Saying” is another keep-things-simple gem. Alice Howe wears a metaphorical Real Deal full body tattoo.

 

If you want to explore even more, you’ll find some clips of Howe performing amazing Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan covers. My only regret is that I had to be out of town when she played at the Parlor Room in Northampton last weekend.

 

Rob Weir