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Christian Czerwinski
NOISE
Brandon Foote and Laura Bates are in full touch with their roots.
The folk duo from Lansing -- Bates, 28, with a sweet, smooth voice and Foote, 28, who squeezes as much emotion as you can imagine out of a mandolin -- draws inspiration from as far back as the Carter Family.
The two, part of the Earthwork Music collective, recently paired to record the richly sonorous album, Jubilee.
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Even if you're not a folkie, it's easy to appreciate the dreamy ambiance of their sound, which is reminiscent of post-Civil War tunes mixed with hints of old country and bluegrass.
We recently caught up with the two to find out about the music and the album.
You have a sound that's not very prevalent around here. Where does that come from?
Laura: There's a gospel tinge to our music. I grew up singing in church with a lot of gospel and hymns. Then I got into the Grateful Dead and other stuff. There's a scene here too for bluegrass and jam bands. We're lucky because there are little pockets.
Who influenced you?
Brandon: I work at Elderly (Instruments) and you have so much to draw from, like folk and world music.
Is there any particular era of music that you're drawn to? Your music sounds like it has so many different elements.
Brandon: Anything from the post-Civil War era to the Carter Family and the Grand Ole Opry stylings. We like the sibling vocal groups and brother duos that sing harmonies together.
Laura: There's a lot of influences (from today) with Neko Case and Sufjan Stevens.
Laura, you have a very sweet voice. Where did you learn to sing that way?
Laura: I grew up singing in church and in college, I became a voice major and did the whole classical opera thing.
You guys seem to have a lot of songs about geographic places. Do you find beauty in the land?
Brandon: I have a bachelor's degree in environmental education and earth science so the element of life seeps into what I do.
Laura: There's a subtlety to Michigan beauty. When you find it, you're hooked.
Your song "The Lonesome Whippoorwill" is very lush and a great song to start the CD with. Why did you choose it?
Laura: It's one of my tunes. I sit and watch nature a lot. There was this little bird flying around and I thought that everyone has had that experience of feeling alone. It's like crying out to God.
- Lansing Noise
From the minute Laura Bates' beautiful soprano voice follows the opening cords of the first song of this recently released CD, my senses were served notice that this was not music to be ignored. This is not background music, this music artistically rendered and beautifully mastered. This CD is filled with wonderful instrumental performances by some of Michigan's finest young artists. For all their youth, they play with ability and restraint that should be far beyond their years.
Quite frankly this is not just one of the best CDs from a Michigan artist I've heard this year, it's one of the best CD's I've heard this year period. Wonderfully written, wonderfully performed by both Brandon Foote and Laura Bates and the host of musicians accompanying them from their Earthwork Music Record label. This record features 9 songs written by Brandon and Laura and one classic song that is beautifully performed here, "Hard Times Come Again, No More" by Stephen Foster.
I have several favorites including their rendition of the Foster tune, but one song particularly grabbed me with it's wonderfully wrought combination of music and lyrics, "All Will be Well".
"Time to lift the backdrop baby, time to drop the show,
And face the fruit of consequences of deeds we did not sow,
Time to tell the truth about things we haven't changed
And the fragile thread in each of us, that fear is going to break."
That's great writing, but you're not really going to appreciate until you hear for yourself.
- Michigan Folk Live - August 2007
Sing Out!
Autumn 2007
Vol.51 #3
LAURA BATES and BRANDON FOOTE,
Jubilee, (Earthwork 0028).
Newcomers Bates and Foote, who hail from Michigan, accompany themselves on piano, guitars, and mandolin, as they weave some great harmonies through nine original songs and instrumentals. Standouts include the beautiful “De Cleft,” and “The Lonesome Whippoorwill.” Quiet and lovely. - MD
- Sing Out!
Discography
Jubilee, Earthwork Music 2007
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Bio
Laura Bates and Brandon Foote's sound is timeless, rootsy and lush, with soaring harmonies, piano, mandolin and guitars harkening back to the olden days with new vision. Bates and Foote look and sound like they could've just stepped off the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, or perhaps even further back, to the dance halls of the civil war era-Always digging deeper and moving forward.
With their unique blend of old-time, folk, bluegrass and country, Laura and Brandon have graced coffee shops, bookstores, pubs, and festivals with traditional favorites and original songs. Booking their act as “Guitar, Mandolin, and Two Voices”, their sound is refreshingly simple and strives for authenticity, with nods to the Carter Family, the Monroe Brothers, and Tim and Mollie O'Brien.
Their debut album, Jubilee was released in April 2007 on Earthwork Music showcasing a handful of fine microphones and a cast of talented friends. With reflective and poignant songwriting, Jubilee presents gospel tinged Michigan roots music at its best.
In this day of overproduced, synthetic music, it is albums like "Jubilee" that refresh and fill our plates with the honest simplicity of a Sunday morning.
-Progressive Torch and Twang
WDBM E. Lansing
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