I’m not a chef, work best in the kitchen when heating things up, but this much I can say without equivocation: Country, folk and classical elements are plaited on Braided Together, while melted butter was brushed on before baking. The leavened result is crisp and airy—and, as importantly, seasoned just right.
Nebraska native Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, a classical soprano now based out of Chicago, blends an array of styles throughout this, her second collection of original songs, while contemplating love, motherhood and memories. Her voice soars high above the clouds one moment, glides just beneath them the next, and the arrangements are spot-on.
The 13-track set, which hits the virtual racks on June 6th, opens with the Irish-flavored “Storm,” about a woman walking along the famed cliffs of Ireland while tumultuous weather rolls in from the sea. The sweet “I Dunno Jack” tackles parenthood, while “I Have No Home” delves into an existential loss that plagues many of us. The bluesy “Skyscraper,” meanwhile, climbs toward the clouds while explaining how she fell for the Windy City: “Back home, where I’m from/We keep our feet planted/We know what we’re worth/And we don’t ask for much/But I took one long look at you/And I was enchanted.”
“Quick Trips” finds her willin’ life on the road into a metaphor for life itself: “How long do we get on this ride?/All of our days disappearing in the night/Always leaving and we never know when/It’s our time/Hope I see you on the other side.” (In another era, Linda Ronstadt would’ve turned it into a radio staple.) “Lincoln Highway” drives down memory lane to a failed relationship, while “Please People” explores one of the reasons why it didn’t end well.
“Mama Rolls On” could well be an excerpt from a musical, spinning the saga of a young woman leaving home with a small bag and a guitar. The mood shifts with “Nell My Bell,” about the love she feels for her daughter, while the title track compares and contrasts her relationships with her mother and her daughter. “Paplo,” for its part, embraces the magic and mysteries she projected onto the Missouri River when young, of wishing for it to carry her and her dreams downstream to what she imagined was freedom. The wistful “Cherry Blossom” conjures the romanticism of youth before “Sweet Annie” concludes things with a life lesson well worth sharing: “I guess life is mostly/Waiting and coping/Learning how to listen/And trying to keep hoping.” Here’s a live version from a few months ago:
Speaking of hope—my initial goal was to somehow weave in one of my favorite lines from The West Wing, “Let Bartlett be Bartlett.” It didn’t happen (though, now that I think it through, I suppose it just did). Braided Together weaves a wondrous tapestry by doing just that. It’s a beautiful listen.
(The album isn’t available to pre-order on Bandcamp just yet, though several tracks can be purchased.)
The Old Grey Cat 