inhabiting the joy of the voice

Gleemaiden  

I’m Gonna Sing

CD baby and I Tunes

    Over in Silver City, New Mexico for their annual Blues Festival, which takes place on the Memorial Day Weekend, and visiting the outdoor farmers’ market to get my annual treats from the decadently delicious BadAss Barb’s Bakery when I heard some beautiful harmonies wafting out over the grounds.  The harmonies were beautifully crafted and were carrying us to other realms, it seemed as if the whole of the people visiting the farmers’ market were hushing and listening.  Barb and I just stood there smiling/listening and enjoying the beautiful heartfelt voices, and enjoying the places the sound took us.  It happened it was the last song of the set and I ambled over to the stage to find out more and to buy a CD. Wound up talking to one of the quartet of ladies that make up Gleemaiden, and finding out more about them.  Good music is always a plus and this beautiful a cappella singing group sure had their good harmonies down pat.

    The group is 4 young ladies who through home schooling children, love of singing, and a common background in family love of music, came together as can only happen in small intimate town America.  Silver City is not a deserted mining town, however the mine is now not a large employer at least not like it used to be, and people have shifted into other employment.   A mighty group of craftsmen and artists now inhabit many of those old home and haunts, yet unlike other towns where this has happened it seems as if it is a peaceful shift.  Of the many times we have ambled through the town about 14 blues festivals, it is free and always with top shelf people, and other such cultural events, it has been one of the better small towns around, and there is some beautiful wilderness and great hot springs nearby, the town just feels laid back bucolic.  

    These four young ladies know what they are doing with their voices and how to use them for the well being of all.  This disc is a lot of music that is labeled traditional or has been around for a good period of time.  Listen to the way they treat Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” and you can just visualize him sitting around without a guitar and doing that song with another voice to punctuate the song with a counter point voice.  These ladies know how to get the message across with just voices to highlight and the certain sections of the songs when they need attention to them.  There are 14 songs and each one has a bit of something new for us.  The harmonies created by the voices here are capable of taking you to places that the interjection of an instrument of two would change the whole feeling and headspace of the voices.  The instrument(s) would become an intrusion.  Just listen to “The Parting Glass,” and the mood and feel is created by the blending and intertwining of the voices.  A beautiful piece of music. 

by bob gottlieb