Before and After is the 12th Rounder release from singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer. Focusing on change and transformation, this layered work is on one level an exploration of life with a progressive spiritual sensibility.... more » On a second level, the listener is exposed to Newcomer's adept guitar work, soulful voice, and unique musicality which stays true to her folk roots, while at the same time allowing Appalachian and classical music to influence her body of work. Newcomer is known for her reflective, poignant lyrics, and this album proves no different. As an added bonus, the album features Mary Chapin Carpenter on the title track, "Before and After." The combination of two of acoustic music's most talented female vocalists is subtle and beautiful.« less
Before and After is the 12th Rounder release from singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer. Focusing on change and transformation, this layered work is on one level an exploration of life with a progressive spiritual sensibility. On a second level, the listener is exposed to Newcomer's adept guitar work, soulful voice, and unique musicality which stays true to her folk roots, while at the same time allowing Appalachian and classical music to influence her body of work. Newcomer is known for her reflective, poignant lyrics, and this album proves no different. As an added bonus, the album features Mary Chapin Carpenter on the title track, "Before and After." The combination of two of acoustic music's most talented female vocalists is subtle and beautiful.
A Singer of Anthems, Lullabies and Clarion Calls for New Com
David Crumm | Canton, Michigan | 02/24/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Carrie Underwood now is in her prime as a creator of new songs that give voice to the spiritual yearnings millions of us grapple with on a daily basis. Some of her songs are playfully funny--like a silly-as-a-summer's-day poem about kooky county fair themes in middle America. That song is like a slice right out of "Prairie Home Companion." But some of her songs also are mature meditations on the strange places Baby Boomers sometimes find themselves these days--like "Coy Dogs," pulled in more than one direction in life. Her songs also piercingly help us name the spiritual experiences to which we can't quite find words--like "I Do Not Know It's Name." And some of these songs are full-scale anthems for new community. I still get chills when I hear "If Not Now (Tell Me When)" and I'm a 30-year veteran of hard-bitten skeptical journalism. I don't "chill" easily.
Beyond the music itself--which is so inviting that it sells itself as a soundtrack to our lives these days--this music is substantial enough that there's much more you can do with it.
Example: There are more than a million small groups meeting across the U.S. related to congregations. Most groups meet to pray, study the Bible or discuss a book they've chosen. Imagine, instead, having everyone listen to a couple of songs from this collection--for a week at a time--then gathering to ask: "How did you live with these songs this week?" As a long-time group leader myself, I can tell you: You won't have any shortage of discussion with these songs.
Enjoy!
"
A Joyous Journey of Music and Lyrics
Peter St Wecker | San Francisco, CA | 02/24/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The cover of Carrie Newcomer's most recent album shows the artist sitting in a railway carriage, while birds and a beautiful sky shine outside the window. It's both a solitary image and an inviting one, encouraging us to join her on this trip to somewhere. Like the best of travels, this voyage brings with it a variety of emotions, including:
Humor - "A Crash of Rhinoceros" is built on the group names of many animals, and is clearly inspired by the wonderful book An Exaltation of Larks: The Ultimate Edition
Mystery - "I Do Not Know Its Name" speaks to the things we know deep in our hearts
Impact - "Stones in the River" demonstrates how small actions can have large consequences
Love - "Hush" is a beautiful love song ("Let the silence be the place we meet / In the space between heart beats")
and the tragic and beautiful "Do No Harm", which teaches us that even in the face of the most horrible events, we can still speak to the peace that is possible.
Carrie's voice, music, and lyrics together make a powerful combination, and should be enjoyed by everyone. So I would recommend checking out her web site to find where she'll be performing, and also to take the time to read the lyrics. It will make the trip even more fulfilling!"
What a talent!
William Mims | Vienna, VA USA | 03/12/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Carrie continues to outdo herself. This album is a miraculous gift. It made me laugh, cry, and celebrate life. How blessed I feel to know her music, and to know what a spiritual gift she has. Her music continues to teach me, and this album is another strong lesson in the value of spirituality, relationships, and gratitude in life."
While very good, not her best.
Reader | 07/17/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With The Geography of Light my favorite CD release of 2008, I was really looking forward to Before and After. While I'm certainly not disappointed, but neither am I blown away.
There are some excellent songs on this CD. Carrie Newcomer's voice is strong and clear, and her lyrics are relevant to life in the real world with all its joys and sorrows, wonders and miracles. The instrumentation is exceptional, and I really enjoy that the arrangements make sophisticated use of strings and piano in new (for her) ways. If there are weak songs in the collection, they are probably (in my opinion), "Hush" and "I Wish I May, I Wish I Might." Still, these aren't exactly bad, just a bit bland and canned.) Some of the songs I did not take to immediately - "Ghost Train" and "If Not Now" - grew on my in subsequent listenings. I can't say I dislike any song on the CD.
So why not give it five stars? I'm not sure. I think it is because so many of the songs are similar in tone and tempo that they start to sound the same in the middle of the collection. Any single song is wonderfully crafted, but when listened to all together (which I tend to do), they become (dare I say it?) boring somewhere in the middle of the collection until "Do No Harm" once again demands you listen closely to the story. I think if there had been a bit more tempo change-up in the middle five or six selections, I'd be able to give it five stars.
Compared to the other Newcomer CDs I own, Before and After is very good and has several strong songs, but it is not the best collecton overall. My suggestion to someone buying their first Carrie Newcomer recording to consider first Regulars and Refugees or The Geography of Light.
"
Sparkles
R. BROADBENT | 03/12/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Carrie Newcomer is a writers writer to be certain. Yet her work is accessable to every listener. Before and After is her latest effort, and like most of her music, it is as melodically and lyrically as fresh as her first album was a few years back. It is always full of imagery to delight the mind. This time out one of her devices I find particularly delightful is the inclusion of the occasion nursery rhyme line. It takes a certain maturity, a security with ones own writing and abilities to include that type of words and rhymes and have it seem so natural.
I'm a bit biased, I suppose, having taken a couple writing classes from her. I truly love the work of Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend, but when I really need something, help, solace, sympathy or joy from the music I'm listening to, Carrie, Bob Franke and maybe a couple others are the ones I can count on. Ahhhh...."