Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Many homemade albums sound like it, but Meghan Hayes's "Snow on the Waves' isn't one of them. That's not just because the Arlington singer-songwriter was assisted in recording these 12 originals by such pros as Mary Chapin Carpernter bandmates John Jennings and Rico Petruccelli; Hayes may not have major (or even minor) label support, but she has a mature style and a confident voice. Both are well showcased on such songs as "Sweet Go-Between", "Airborne" and the title tune.
Skillfully co-produced by Hayes and David McKittrick, who also engineered and played guitar, "Snow on the Waves" gently blends folk, rock, country and jazz. That's not unusual for the contemporary singer-songwriter genre, and neither are Hayes' lyrics, which as personal and poetic but sometimes maladroit; the closing "Count Your Blessings" stumbles over couplets like, "have you ever seen a picture of that migrant Woody Guthrie?/ Well I haven't either but I hope he don't look like me." But even that song, the album's shakiest, is fairly catchy. -- Mark Jenkins - The Washington Post
Singer-songwriter Meghan Hayes has called lots of places home, but for some reason she seems to have found a spot to settle down in Arlington, Va. If her debut recording "Snow on the Waves" is any indication, local music fans will be grateful that Hayes has curbed her wanderlust.
"I've lived just about everywhere," Hayes said in a recent telephone conversation. "It seemed like we used to move every year. I've been in Arlington for about six years now, though, and that's the longest I've lived in any place by a long shot."
Hayes started singing "almost since I began to talk," and said music has "really been my true love forever." when she was 15 she got a classical guitar from a great aunt and picked up a Bob Dylan songbook. After that, she quickly began writing her own songs with a single-minded passion.
"I was just going through some boxes of my old stuff and I found all these old class notebooks with song lyrics written all over the margins," she said.
She played coffeehouses and the like while an undergraduate at Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College, but after graduation found herself postponing entry into the rat race with a year-long stint teaching English in the Czech Republic. Her muse came along for the ride.
"It was a real somber time," Hayes said. "I didn't really know anybody, and I didn't really know the language. I had just graduated from college and I was going through what everyone else goes through, thinking to myself, "What did I just spend the last four years doing?"
"So, I borrowed a guitar and cranked out tons of songs."
After making her way to the area in 1993, Hayes quickly realized this was a good place to get serious about making music. Making friends and meeting like-minded people proved no problem for the newcomer, who immersed herself in the local scene.
"Me and Dave (David McKittrick, who helped Hayes produce "Snow on the Waves" and now plays guitar in her backing band) met in line at a Shawn Colvin show," she said. "I was playing with one other person in a group called Lorelei's Map, and he ended up coming down to see us play."
Starting about two years ago, Hayes began putting the pieces together that would eventually form "Snow on the Waves." Though she took time alon ghe way to get married (to former Villa Rosie drummer Rich Hayes, who is also in her band), things eventually fell into place.
"When i think about getting the CD together, it was certainly a lot of hard work, but there was lots of serendipity involved as well," she said. One example of that serendipity is the guest appearance of long-time Mary Chapin Carpenter guitarist John Jennings, who lends a sinewy solo to the bouncy folk-pop of "Snow on the WAves", then goes thoughtful on Hayes' driving "Sweet Go-Between."
"It was certainly flattering and exciting to have him play on the CD," said Hayes. "I'm a complete Chapin fan, and I've watched him in concert a lot, but being there with him in the studio was wonderful."
Putting a label on Hayes' music might prove difficult- if not pointless. Spend too much time worrying about how to classify the brooding "citadel" (one of the songs Hayes wrote in the Czech REpublic) and you'll miss the hused intensity of "Airborne" or the sass and swagger of "Get Off on a Dare." What does Hayes think?
"I think we walk a pretty interesting line between acoustic and rock," she said. Good enough for me. -- by Lou King - The Arlington Journal
2005 DIY MUSIC FESTIVAL WINNERS NAMED
LOS ANGELES (February 1, 2005) -- The 2005 DIY Music Festival will honor Team Tomato's "Words and Skin and Bones" as its DIY Album of the Year at an awards ceremony and live music performance to be held on Thursday evening, Feb. 10 at the Ex_Plex nightclub in Los Angeles.
The St. Louis, Missouri quartet will top a program highlighted by one of the first solo shows by Guided by Voices guitarist Doug Gillard, whose "Salamander" was a critically-hailed album that was noted on several 2004 year-end "best" lists, including Amazon.com.
The DIY Music Festival is part of the fifth annual DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books, which takes place Feb. 7-12 in Los Angeles. The convention celebrates independent film, music and books with six nights of music performances, two nights of film screenings and two days of panels and workshops. More information on the DIY Convention is online at www.DIYConvention.com.
2005 DIY Music Festival Selections (include)...
HONORABLE MENTION:
Meghan Hayes, Go and Give the Guard a Break
Meghan Hayes will perform live at the DIY Music Festival Showcase at The Scene in LA on February 9.
The DIY Music Festival and DIY Convention are sponsored by Spaceland Productions, BMI, Sonicbids, ASCAP, SESAC, Indie911, CDBaby, Discmakers, Imagic, Alcasid.com and The DIYReporter.com. - DIY Music Festival
Discography
Snow on the Waves, 2000
Go and Give the Guard a Break, 2005
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
With its layers of carillon-toned guitars, textured keyboards and earthy vocals, Go and Give the Guard a Break embroiders Meghan Hayess troubadour roots with rock, alternative pop and Arlington twang. The new album -- released in January 2005 -- comes four years after her critically acclaimed first record, Snow on the Waves. The St. Paul Pioneer Press said Meghans first record created quite the buzz that made her a hot commodity on the East Coast. The Bellingham Herald called her music a crossbreed of folk, rock, alt-country and melodic pop. The Washington Post urged its readers to "keep an eye and a couple of ears on Meghan. The Arlington Journal named her debut CD one of the best albums of the year. In the course of making her popular appearances across the country, from the famed Birchmere in Alexandria, VA and the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, to capacity crowds in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Washington state, Meghan shared the stage with artists such as Freedy Johnston (Elektra), Tift Merritt (Lost Highway), Amy Correia (Capitol), Jeffrey Gaines (Artemis), and many more.
Meghans new album reflects a closer collaboration with her touring band and a half-dozen outside musicians, including: Brad Rice of Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown (Lost Highway Records); Paul Wood of Phaser (Emperor Norton Records): pianist and accordionist John Carroll, keyboardist for Mary Chapin Carpenter (Epic) and founding member of the Starland Vocal Band (yes, Afternoon Delight); guitarist John Ward of Villa Rosie (Pure Blend); vocalist Mary Ann Redmond, the former Motown prodigy and fixture on the Washington, DC R&B scene; and jazz musician Steve Eisen, who contributed both trumpets and flugelhorn. Members of Meghan's touring band -- guitarist and co-producer Dave McKittrick, keyboardist Shyam Telikicherla of Metropolitan (Crank Automotive), bassist Tim Smith and drummer Rich Hayes -- provide the instrumental backbone to the record. Meghan co-produced, wrote all the lyrics and music, sang, and also played guitar the record. Three of the songs were co-written with members of her band (Constantine with Dave, Simple with Shyam, and Branson with Rich).
The new album is about the divergent roads one can take after the angst of youth is gone -- from the wistful swagger of "I'm Not Leaving" to the wink-and-a-nod road anthem "Branson," whereas her first record, Snow on the Waves, addressed more personal themes like loneliness and heartache. Eric Brace of the Washington Post called it "a smart collection of rock/pop/folk tunes. The Post's Mark Jenkins said, "Many homemade albums sound like it, but Meghan Hayes's 'Snow on the Waves' isn't one of them. That's not just because the Arlington singer-songwriter was assisted in recording these 12 originals by such pros as Mary Chapin Carpenter bandmates John Jennings and Rico Petruccelli." In addition to Jennings and Petruccelli, an eclectic group of DC notables contributed to her debut record, including fiddler and Grammy nominee Mike Stein, Kenny Haddaway, Tommy Lepson (of Lazy Boys fame), and members of the Air Force Band.
Hayes toured across the United States after her first CD, playing to standing-room-only crowds in Baltimore, MD, Chestertown, MD, Philadelphia, PA, St. Paul, MN, Iowa City, Iowa, Sayner, WI, Jackson Hole, WY, Bellingham, WA and places in between. She has shared the stage with major label acts and gold record-sellers at venues like the Birchmere, Iota, Black Cat, and State Theater. Her songs have been played on college stations across the country, as well as DC-area radio station WHFS, Philadelphia-area WXPN, and Minneapolis-area WFAI. Internationally, she has been featured in Belgium's esteemed "Rootstown" magazine and received repeated airplay on "Roots Revival," Belgium's Radio ATL105.9's Americana show. She was showcase artist at the 2001 Philadelphia Music Conference.
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