Singing Biscuit

Rather than the usual dour folk strumming, Hamby and her band flesh out their folk-rock with percussive pings on the piano and some mossy bass. Hamby's voice echoes Laura Cantrell's, which is a hell of a compliment in my book. This is Floridian folk with real style and soul. Same goes for Radio-Free Carmela, one of Sarasota's best folk talents. (Fogartyville Café, Bradenton) CLB - Creative Loafing (Tampa)

Stand Up Eight
 
For three days straight, it was the last thing I heard when I went to sleep and the first thought in my head every morning. Even now, Carrie Hamby’s “Water Table Blues” is rocking my thoughts away like a kid in a hammock. I don’t know if it’s because Hamby’s music is vaguely familiar and comfortable, or if it’s her poetic lyrics, or even her soft, sweet high notes, which always give me the good tingles. I can tell that she loves Iris DeMent (that’s something we have in common) and that she’s listened to the great singer-songwriters of our time. But there’s something else going on in her music that really caught me off guard. Almost from the first notes, I had a core reaction so strong that it made me misty-eyed. I can’t really explain it, except to say that it’s a feeling I get when I hear - Dusty Strings Music

I heard last year that Carrie Hamby was planning to release a CD and was thrilled. I first met and heard Carrie while working on the Apalachicola Doin' Time project and thought she had a very sweet and pure folk voice. Since then I've had the chance to hear her around the camp grounds at the Florida Folk Festival and have always enjoyed those moments. You see and hear a lot of guitars, dobros, mandolins, banjos and fiddles around the camp grounds but the accordion is not plentiful. In the wrong hands it can be dangerous (as they all can) but in the right hands it adds something quite beautiful to the musical fabric. Carrie has the right hands and she adds that gentle breathy reed sound to many of the songs on this disc. She is also featured here on guitar and percussion as well as providing lead vocals. Her new CD is called Singing Biscuit: Stand Up Eight and features a fine assortment of songs written by Carrie as well as a nice selection of tunes that she covers with finesse. This CD is well recorded and is mixed in a way that highlights Carrie's voice and brings out its subtle qualities. The songs are arranged with care and all the parts work to build the whole. Even the gentle addition of some electric guitar on Blackberry and Last Request is delicately done and very tasteful. It also adds that extra something that the subject matter calls for, especially on Blackberry. I love her a-cappella version of Will McLean's Away O'ee which she merges with her own All For Nothing, a love song of sort for those who remember the way Florida once was. Her writing has something to say and she says it well, singing about maquiladora and gardens lost; phosphate mining and Solidago; Water Table Blues, canning plant hell and living on the wrong side. She doesn't beat you over the head with her point, she just makes it well, like combining the Water Table Blues with Sweet Sunny South. What a nice way to close the case. Finally, a few words about the musicians. Damn Fine bunch of players. Doug Gauss, Angie Prather, Frank Graham and Dennis Hardin all add backing vocals for a nice harmony where needed. Some of it is so subtle that it takes a second hearing to pick it up. I like that. Mike Snelling is featured on both double bass and some lead guitar. He is joined in the lead guitar department by Frank Graham. The spice is added by David Leporati on Mandolin and Dennis Hardin on resophonic guitar and banjo as well as Carrie on an assortment of percussion instruments. There is nothing on the CD that clashes with the music or seems out of place; nothing that seems to have been thrown in as an afterthought or just for the hell of it. It's all crafted and you can tell each song was thought out carefully. I really appreciate that.

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William A. Beckett
Foff Board Member &
Program Director
WUFT-FM & WJUF-FM
2206 Weimer Hall
Gainesville, Florida 32611-8405
PH# 352-392-5200 ext 1119
Fax # 352-392-5741
email bbeckett@wuft.org
Web www.wuftfm.org
- Bill Beckett