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The Burlington Free PressThursday, August 30, 2001 Scene & Heard Ruane’s music is perfect for fall There’s no way to fight it. It’s the last week of August; the college kids are back in town; the temperatures have cooled a bit; the Champlain Valley Fair is in full swing. There’s a smell in the air, and it’s not just manure. Fall is here whether we like it or not. For me, the change in season always seems to bring with it a natural change in tone and mood. The ease and relaxation of summer gives way to a more pronounced energy toward getting things done. Vermont, in its fall splendor, takes on its most pastoral visage. Apple picking, the fall foliage, harvest time, all these things seem to point to one genre: acoustic/singer-songwriter folk. Folk
music can seep its tendrils into
my brain most readily at this time
of year. Perhaps it’s the crunchiness
of the leaves beneath my feet
that makes me more tolerant of the crunchiness of the musicians. So take, for example, Ripton songwriter Richard Ruane.
During
the 1980s, Ruane toured with the
band Feast or Famine and made a
couple of records, one for Philo Record’s Fretless
label. He was a member of the
world-beat group Sundog, adding
his songwriting skills and electric
mandolin talents. After the birth
of his second son, he retired from the road and became more
of a local force in music. He helped
start the Ripton Community Coffee House and has helped The
Middlebury Festival on the Green
as well as Middlebury’s After
Dark Music Series. Acoustic guitarist, mandolinist, local music activist, he’s
your typical singer-songwriter living in Vermont. His recent solo album “Things That Strangers Say” — recorded primarily at Ad Astra Studios and produced on the fledgling Riptone Records — is a very likable piece of acoustic music. Plain and simple. The gentle chord picking, the forthright and honest delivery and even the timbre and tone of Ruane’s vocals might be extremely reminiscent of Sweet Baby James Taylor throughout, but his storytelling is honest and poignant, and he turns a good lyric. I know the comparison to Taylor might be trite when describing singer-songwriters — like saying salt water reminds me of the ocean — but in Ruane’s case the shoe fits and he wears it well. At other times I might gag at listening to this stuff (with a soft spot for two Dan Fogelberg songs my secret shame), but it’s fall and I’m in the mood. Ruane’s songs are his own and they will captivate acoustic songwriting fans. The romantic vagaries of “Old Lovers” and the sense of loss in “Light of the World” are touching and bittersweet. The super-positive and upbeat “Joy That Carries Me” made me wince a little and had this cynic wondering “How do those folkies manage to stay so happy all the time?” The rockier riff, albeit acoustic, on “Not That Man” is just plain way cool. But Ruane is not all smiles, which is a relief. “Rapid City” is a bit darker, moodier and obtuse in meaning. “Dublin” tells the story of being accosted by some thieving toughs, and “Behind the Houses” gave me the creeps. Ruane didn’t create this album in a vacuum and praise must be given to the collaborators and guest musicians who add the bass, a bit of guitar, fiddle and well-placed vocal harmonies throughout. The effect might be more than spartan and less than thickly layered, but it adds just the right amount of sound to fill things in a bit. These folks include Michael Chorney, Rachel Bissex, Patti Casey, Mitch Barron, Pete Sutherland, Peter Engisch and Viveka Fox. Richard Ruane’s “Things That Strangers Say” is a solid group of well-crafted songs, few bells and whistles, musically palatable and accessible, lyrically clear and vocally strong. When fall hits, it hits quickly. I give this folk reprieve about two weeks until I’m re-acclimated. Steve
Lemcke can be reached via e-mail at
critikboy@aol.com. He can be reached by old-fashioned mail care of Scene & Heard,
The Burlington Free Press, 191 College
St., Burlington, Vt., 05401. |
