Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Tamara Dearing’s first record, 2000’s Close Your Eyes and Heal, was 16 meekly introspective, mildly interesting songs that bore an unmistakable metaphorical resemblance to low-hanging, under-ripened fruit. The album was, Captain Beefheart might say, safe as milk.
Whatever Dearing did for the next five years worked some kind of voodoo magic, though: This record is deliriously superior. Dearing’s not shoegazing so much anymore; instead, she’s taking the Tori Amos tack of letting her fingers mamba all over the piano keys. She’s making wild gypsy music with a good measure of parlor piano and carnival zest in the mix. Her voice exudes a new confidence, both in timbre and lyrics. She handles the piano like a percussive instrument.
“Not So All Alone” swings and jumps along sharp note changes — atop a jazzy left-hand bass line — while Dearing finds some soul over lyrics that deal with issues of isolation and control. “Tragic Mock Me” is a down-tempo jam that employs one of the grander rock ’n’ roll ballad traditions: to ramble, in a non-annoying way. “I Hurricane” opens with the smiling lightheartedness of a child’s song; the lyrics are heavy and betray the vibe, which illuminates Dearing’s real sophistication.
- LEO-Louisville Eccentric Observer
Discography
1997 Downpour (out of stock)
1998 Baby Jaymar and the Undercurrent Assertion (out of stock)
1999 Close Your Eyes and Heal (currently available)
2006 yesterconfessions (currently available)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
For Tamara Dearing the singer/songwriter process began at an early age transitioning from silly to therapeutic. But as a career it can be difficult when the songs become products and the artists, brands. The music must be intelligent and stand out or be forgotten. Having previously been lumped into “women’s alternative folk music” Tamara recently made it her career objective to sever herself from this tired 90s cliché. With a batch of unrecorded songs from her turbulent college days, reworked and arranged in a more remarkable package, Tamara released her best work to date entitled “yesterconfessions.” A recent review describes her latest handiwork as “wild gypsy music with a good measure of parlor piano and carnival zest” with no blatant mention of her sex nor a specific genre but opting rather to dub it “deliciously superior.”
Playing musical chairs with genres is not such a surprising feat for Tamara who developed a musical ear at a very young age and reinforced it by her appreciation of everything from Chopin to Springsteen. Her love for music was apparent by age three with the gift of a toy piano. After years of pleading she began piano lessons at age seven but they were difficult since Tamara's father was in the Navy and the family was often uprooted. During this time Tamara was exposed to New Orlean’s jazz and hurricanes, San Franciso's earthquakes and symphonies and finally settled into the lush steamy summers and gloriously white winters of Southern Indiana where her father retired. The sensory delights of the nomadic life would eventually resurface throughout her music but for now she enjoyed Bluegrass and sweet corn.
As a teenager Tamara's songs were an angst-ridden diary performed only for an empty house until one day her best friend's boyfriend's band needed a keyboardist. By 17 she was a self-producing solo act with an e.p. entitled "Downpour." At 18 she recorded and produced another independent project with 16 songs entitled "Baby Jaymar and the Undercurrent Assertion". When she was 19 she had written over 100 songs and recorded her first album in compact disc format "Close Your Eyes and Heal." This album, containing an improved recorded sound, was her first available to the general public. Released in 2000 it maintained the same raw passion as the others but played as a 16 song coming of age story full of obsession, mortal wonderment, and awkward first love.
Now the latest album “yesterconfessions” completes her journey into young adulthood. In arrangements with the polarity of sincere reflection and jovial resilient spirit she branches into her love for jazz and blues. She applies her percussive rhythmic lyrics in compositions hinting towards the old New Orlean's piano professors like Jelly Roll Morton. Her lyrics and reflection on our world draw from her oldest influences and teachers, folk artists such as Melanie Safka and Cat Stevens. It also incorporates ideas of newer artists ever evolving and never satisfied with one sound such as Andrew Bird, Michelle Shocked and Ani DiFranco. Like these artists Tamara's new album showcases her continual growth and dynamic talent. Currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky Tamara is playing gigs and developing new material for her next transformation due in 2007.
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