ANNIE HUMPHREY
The Heron Smiled (Makoche)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Annie Humphrey's new Makoche release, The Heron Smiled, is a one of the year's best folk records. That's a pretty enthusiastic endorsement of 13 tracks of love, loss, loneliness and hope, but Annie's story and talent are timeless. She's draws upon her Anishinaabe heritage on many of the songs that reflect the unique perspective of an American Indian. Gary Struoutsos' cedar flute ushers in an acoustic "Falling Down and Falling Apart" (written by Sherman Alexie and Jim Boyd), and both versions of "The Spirit Horses" recall herds that ran the plains, pre-Columbus. The "Same Old Years" hints at Annie's experience leaving and returning the Rez, seeing friends that "still driving the same car/still wishing on the same star." For me, the two most political songs dwarf the others in the set. The anthem "DNA" is reminiscent of The Band at Watkins Glen, and the movingly sad eight-minute epic "500 Years" is a moving chronology of stolen lands, broken treaties, smallpox blankets, and Indian activists like John Trudell and Leonard Peltier. Think of Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Koloc or other great folksingers with a message: Annie Humphrey is more than a new American Indian folk singer. She's a bright new talent soaring off the Reservation and I hope more fans of Bruce Cockburn, the Indigo Girls or other socially-conscious musicians and listeners take notice.

Track List:

Spirit Horses * But This Love * Same Old Years * Much Sense * DNA * Falling Down and Falling Apart * I Can Hear You * The Heron Smiled * Another Horse * See Her * 500 Years * Call Me * Spirit Horses (with John Trudell)

© 2000 - Eric Steiner