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Top Picks of 2011
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2. BEGGAR'S RIDE
"SUNLESS SKY"
While Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray may have offered up the year...2. BEGGAR'S RIDE
"SUNLESS SKY"
While Miss Shevaughn and Yuma Wray may have offered up the year's best song, 2011's best album comes from Baltimore's Beggar's Ride and this track is the best the duo gets on their self-titled debut. Sure, it might not have as much spunk as some of the other tracks that surround it. And yes, "Sunless Sky" could admittedly put you to sleep quicker than turning the TV to C-Span at 2:30 a.m. But it is on this track that Claudia SanSoucie and Kate Maguire's impeccable vocal chops combine to make one of the sweetest female harmonies in all of the year's music -- local or not. What makes this feat even more impressive is the balancing act the songwriters manage to pull off in order to maintain staying on the good side of boring. Despite the track's palpably soft texture and almost indecipherable vocals, both artists give haunting performances that leave you stunned, not sleepy. It's a hard accomplishment to successfully achieve, but SanSoucie and Maguire do it here with a perfect combination of grace and ease, making "Sunless Sky" all the more memorable because of it.
8. BEGGAR'S RIDE
"FIVE DAYS OF RAIN"
Oh, lord, this is a sad, dark song. The harmonica. The vocal harmonies that fit so perfectly amongst each other. The swaying acoustic guitars that seem as though they could simply stop producing sound and give up at any moment. There's a reason why Beggar's Ride is one of only two artists to have multiple songs make this best-of list, and while "Sunless Sky" might be the duo's most impressive offering, "Five Days Of Rain" is most certainly their most accessible. The secret weapon? Google a live performance of this song and notice how both women kick up the tempo ever so slightly, allowing for a surprisingly more morose effect. You'll never listen to this song the same way again.
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Ladies' Night with Carolann Solebello and Beggar's Ride at Burlap and Bean
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Ladies Night With Carolann Solebello and Beggar's Ride at Burlap and Bean
New Yorker Solebello be...Ladies Night With Carolann Solebello and Beggar's Ride at Burlap and Bean
New Yorker Solebello belted out country tunes like a real southerner, while the folk duo Beggar's Ride were perfectly in tune with each other on Nov. 5.
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Carolann Solebello, who won the Susquehanna Music and Arts songwriting competition headlined a solo show at Burlap and Bean on Saturday, November 5. Credit Brooke Hoffman
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New York native, Carolann Solbello took us down south on Saturday, November 5 at Burlap and Bean. Credit Brooke Hoffman
Kate Maguire, of Beggar's Ride, played acoustic and electric guitar during their set on Saturday, November 5 at Burlap and Bean. Credit Brooke Hoffman
Beggar's Ride has been playing together for three years, but released their first album this year. Credit Brooke Hoffman
Carolann Solebello, who won the Susquehanna Music and Arts songwriting competition headlined a solo show at Burlap and Bean on Saturday, November 5. Credit Brooke Hoffman
Solebello, who performed at Burlap and Bean on November 5, released her third solo album this past summer. Credit Brooke Hoffman
New York native, Carolann Solbello took us down south on Saturday, November 5 at Burlap and Bean. Credit Brooke Hoffman
NEWTOWN SQUARE—On Saturday, Nov. 5, Carolann Solebello took the stage along with duo Beggar's Ride for a night of warmth and music. Burlap and Bean's stage was lined with guitars that were all tuned for some classic folk and country music.
Beggar's Ride consists of Claudia SanSoucie and Kate Maguire, who have been playing together since 2008. There had always been a mutual appreciation for each other's music and continually preformed together. In 2010, they officially became Beggar's Ride and recorded their first album. Within one song of their performance, it's easy to see how well they work together.
"I've always enjoyed the happy accidents that could happen when performing with another person," said Maguire. SanSoucie said that playing solo is almost like "missing an arm" and doesn't feel the same energy as when she is performing with Maguire.
The band's name comes from the saying, "If wishes were horses then beggar's would ride." At first the name wasn't too appealing to the duo's friends, admits Maguire and SanSoucie, but to them the phrase was more about perusing a dream with their music and being the vehicle to follow that dream.
Their music is a combination of acoustic and electric guitar layered with their perfectly paired harmonies. Critics have called them 'moody' but SanSoucie feels it's something a little different.
"I think to me it's almost more reflective, and reflective is something more positive," she explained. "We really wanted to put an album together that put you into a mood that was more quiet, reflective, but to us felt really comforting."
Their lyrics are seamlessly relatable and the duo aims to find subjects and stories that are personal to them, but also still be able to easily connect with listeners. They also recorded their album to sound very similar to how they perform them live to maintain a consistent sound and mood. SanSoucie and Maguire have a synchronicity that is reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel.
Their set included songs from their album which was released earlier this year as well as a few solo tracks, but each song was delivered as a duo. They never stepped back; they always shared the spotlight.
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For the Record: Beggar's Ride
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Originally published September 15, 2011
By Colin McGuire
News-Post Staff
Here's a question: ...
Originally published September 15, 2011
By Colin McGuire
News-Post Staff
Here's a question: Why don't people care about the Lilith Fair anymore? The woman-power touring festival brainchild of Sarah McLachlan made a valiant attempt at a comeback last summer, only to be plagued with countless problems -- including sluggish ticket sales and numerous acts bailing on the event as the tour kept rolling -- thus forcing the revival to fizzle quietly. But why?
It always seemed like a good idea. There is a consistently large audience for the Norah Joneses, Kelly Clarksons and Emmylou Harrises of the world, and when you combine those heavyweights with such modern-day standouts as Gillian Welch and Best Coast, why couldn't a tour like the Lilith Fair work anymore? It makes no sense, really.
Either way, the Baltimore female duo of Beggar's Ride would fit the bill perfectly if McLachlan and her friends ever decide to have another go at the packaged road show. The combination of Claudia SanSoucie's sweet-sounding soprano with Kate Maguire's sometimes-haunting lower-octave croons is what makes the group's self-titled debut worth any folk music fan's time.
David Goodrich's slick production also helps, as each member's acoustic guitars intertwine perfectly and the layered, tenderly harmonized vocals complement each other so well. It's a wonder these gals haven't blossomed to success on a national level. Comparisons to such other female vocal-heavy collaborations as the Dixie Chicks, The Wreckers or even Sugarland (before the second female lead singer split, mind you) might come to mind, but those proclamations wouldn't be fair.
Beggar's Ride is better.
For example, "Five Days of Rain," the album's first track, is a showcase for how well SanSoucie's voice combines with Maguire's tone as the constant, fantastically natural vocal harmonizing featured here proves this duo must never be taken lightly. Add a well-placed harmonica and a few bluesy acoustic guitar riffs and what you have is a delightfully promising beginning to what turns out to be an even more impressive album.
Case in point: "Sunless Sky." It's the best the duo gets throughout all of "Beggar's Ride." Placed midway through the record, the track gives the two women an honest-to-goodness Simon and Garfunkel moment that succeeds in the most beautiful way. The performance sees both singers stick to each other through each word, creating one of the most realistic comparisons to a female-led "Bridge Over Troubled Water" than any listener may expect. It's haunting. It's pretty. And it's subtle. Comparing the performance with such legendary prose isn't an act of overstating things. It's a confession of truth.
The Maguire-led "Hurry Home" is the most up-tempo the duo gets, allowing for a minor level of fun, however folky that fun may sound. And SanSoucie's lead-woman capabilities shine through on both "The Enemy" and "Another Day," two tracks that not only prove the singer's worth, but also allow any listener to dissect how important Maguire's backing vocals are when fading them into her counterpart's feather-light voice.
But that's just it. Together, the two singers' voices combine for a sound that proves at times to be wordless -- a tone that is incapable of being accurately described, no matter the superlatives, no matter the accolades. And if nothing else, Beggar's Ride's self-titled debut proves that the duo belongs among some of the best female-led vocally-driven folk groups around. Forget the Lilith Fair. What many of those concert-goers should be thinking about is where they can find Maguire and SanSoucie strumming their guitars and singing their perfectly crafted harmonies.
And if anybody has any sense, someone will make sure those acoustic guitars and perfect harmonies will eventually be showcased to crowds far bigger than a mere summer music festival could ever provide.
Colin McGuire is a copy editor and page designer at the News-Post as well as the music reviews editor at PopMatters.com. His blog, TV Without A TV, can be found at www.newspost.com/blogs. Submit albums to 72hours@newspost.com or Frederick News-Post, ATTN: 72 Hours, 351 Ballenger Center Drive, Frederick, MD 21703.
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Beggar's Ride
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Beggar’s Ride
[Self-released (2011)]
Beggar’s Ride formed in Baltimore not too long after guitar...Beggar’s Ride
[Self-released (2011)]
Beggar’s Ride formed in Baltimore not too long after guitarist and singer/songwriter Kate Maguire first moved here in 2009. After she had played with the folk-jazz singer Claudia SanSoucie for a bit, the duo settled on a name, wrote a handful of songs and adapted some of Maguire’s older originals, and hired Chris Smither’s producer for an album of gorgeous vocal harmony and Maguire’s flawless guitar work.
The vocal blend is more Jayhawks and Welch/Rawlings (who favor country-style unison) than Indigo Girls (whose harmonies have always been more pop- and counter melody-oriented). When they aren’t harmonizing, I prefer Maguire’s sure and steady lead to SanSoucie’s somewhat timid but more vulnerable qualities, but they sing as one voice throughout much of the disc.
Though the album has beauty in spades, it’s a quiet, moody affair, and a couple speedier tunes would have been a big help. “Hurry Home” is a standout both for its lyrical content and because it’s more upbeat—with a more developed guitar riff—than the rest of the songs, though it still clocks in at walking tempo:
“Five Days of Rain” and their cover of David Olney’s “Women Across the River” are also particularly noteworthy.
[Edit: You can visit the duo's BandCamp page to hear the album in its entirety, though Driftwood Magazine would of course encourage you to support them via a download if you like their music.]
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Know Your Product
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Not sure which radars exactly Beggar’s Ride might be blipping on right now. Coffeehouse country-folk...Not sure which radars exactly Beggar’s Ride might be blipping on right now. Coffeehouse country-folk certainly compromises a scene/community of its own, just like any other kind of music with devotees, but Berkeley, Calif., Baltimore is not. A posted concert schedule has the Beggar’s Ride duo of Claudia SanSoucie and Kate Maguire kicking all around the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, from a coffeehouse/art space in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a winery in Pennsylvania and another coffeehouse, this time in Annapolis, on Saturday. After some three years of making music together, Beggar’s Ride has surely figured out its game trails. And, notably, it’s taken this long to get an album release. Perhaps worth the wait, the record’s plenty welcoming, an almost distractingly professional batch of tight acoustic tunes.
The Beggar’s Ride palette is pretty simple: two voices, two guitars, a brush of pedal steel here, a harmonica there. The record’s full of lonely numbers, lines like, “Sure as these days drag on, the years fly by/. . . when you’re home,” or, “Your memory remains here in darkness/ with the coming of another day/ each day’s passing is a blessing to the wounded.” Sad stuff. And with music to match: That steel seeps in at just the perfect moment to graze a heartstring, saddish and drawn voices channeling not so much sad twang heroes like Crystal Gayle or anything modern pop country, but a kind of subdued blue that’s almost indie. But still too polished for that—even a pop-leaning indie-folk band like Vetiver shows some dust every now and again. Could be that I’m just not terribly up on the world of coffeehouse folk/adult contempo folk, but it seems like Beggar’s Ride, on record, could use a bit of that dust, an errant crackle, to bring it more to life.
