CARRIE NEWCOMER
The Gathering Of Spirits (Philo)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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That Carrie Newcomer retains a commitment to social justice consonant with her Quaker upbringing is admirable, especially when one considers that if this was indeed a just universe she would be a household name with a wall full of platinum albums and wall to wall airplay. On the other hand, over the last couple of decades (her name notwithstanding, Newcomer is a veteran performer and songwriter), she's managed to put out nine solo albums, tour on her own and with such luminaries as Alison Krauss & Union Station (Krauss adds harmony vocals to the title track of this release) and write an outstanding book of songs, with eleven excellent new examples on The Gathering Of Spirits.

There are songs here to raise your spirits, exercise your intellect and to make you laugh out loud. Newcomer's expressive alto voice adapts to each of those purposes well, sinking and soaring as befits the message of the song she's performing. What's most striking, though, is how she crafts those messages so that they're clearly expressed without falling into routine topicality or a sense of preachiness. Although there's a definite spiritual element to much of the material, it's delivered more as a prayer than a sermon, as she enlists the empathy of her audience by finding philosophical points of common ground. Carrie Newcomer writes songs that make me feel better about being alive, and that's reason enough to put this one on my best of '02 list.

Track List:

Holy As A Day Is Spent * Straight To The Point * I'll Go Too * The Gathering Of Spirits * The Fisher King * Little Earthquakes * There And Back * Silver * I'm Still Standing * I Heard An Owl * The Things I've Gone And Done

© 2002 - Shaun Dale