catapult magazine

I’ve recently been falling in love (again) with song writers, thanks in part to some of the posts recently. I thought I would take a more direct approach in finding new stuff. Who have been some song writers (not necessarily lyricists) who have had success in writing stories? I suppose this could go cross genre to visual arts and theater, but because I find music a bit more easily accessible I’d like to discover more in this arena first.
I like Tom Waits and Leo Kottke in particular. The music behind and often in front of the lyrics seems to have/be a character unto itself. Obviously there’s Dylan and Simon. Are there any other lesser known possibly underground artists anybody could recommend?

Norb, interesting that you brought this topic up just now. I was on my way to work listning to my new steve earle cd and was just planning to start a topic on a very similar thing (my topic was going to be ‘political music’, as steve earle is about the only musician i can think of that is still intensely political). But he fits into this category very well also. Depending on your political views, he might rub you the wrong way, as his story-songs are nearly always meant to drive home a point about such things as the war on drugs, poverty, prison, the death penalty, etc. His new album is largely a response to Sept11 and the following year of flag-waving (you may have heard about the flak he’s getting for his song “john walker’s blues” in which he sings from the perspective of john walker lindh). There’s religious imagery all over the place in this album. It’s an excellent album.

And i strongly agree with you on tom waits, as he’s probably one of my 2 or 3 favorite musicians/songwriters of all time.

Thanks for the note on Earle. I did read an article about him and J.W.‘s blues song and my interest was piqued. Nice to get a real referral though. You’ve got to have some others Jonner.

Where’s my mule? Where’s my forty acres?
Chris

steve earle’s “transcendental blues” is a great album, too.

i’ve been trying to think of great storytellers in music and i can’t seem to come up with any new artists. i mean, johnny cash and willie nelson, bob dylan and other folkies from the 60s, but very few younger musicians.

How about Springsteen? He’s got some really good story-songs. I like “The Ghost of Tom Joad” quite a bit. You might give that a listen if you haven’t before. Another guy I’d highly recommend is a canadian (i think) named Ron Sexsmith. He writes some really great vignette-type pieces. He’s sort of a proto-typical singer-songwriter, but a very good one. And he’s got an excellent voice. (interestingly, i just read on the internet that steve earle produced album “Blue Boy”. i hadn’t known that before. But his stuff is nothing like earle, so if you’re pre-disposed against earle, don’t let that bias you against ron sexsmith). I’m only really familiar with “other songs”, which is very good.

And since I’m on a steve-earle-related kick, emmylou harris has some great stuff too. Her latest album (unless she’s put out another one that i’m not aware of), Red Dirt Girl, is very good, though it’s quite different than her early stuff. The title song is a particularly touching story, i think.

I’m sure i’ll think of more. i’ll jot them down as i think of them.

Anyone heard the new Peter Gabriel album UP? There are some very introspective “stories” on the album that truly capture the state of where we are as a culture (both Europe and US)

If you truly want a modern story teller look no further than Kevin Gilbert’s “The Shaming Of The True”. An intense view of the record industry and how it destroyed his life. (Note that Kevin Gilbert wrote almost all of Sheryl Crows “Tuesday Night..” and was the front runner of Giraffe.

Hey everyone,

a singer-songwriter and story teller who I have been listening to lately is Nick Drake, and particulary his first album “Five Leaves Left.” This album is far more story based than “Pink Moon,” and I think it is just as good, though I think Pink Moon is one of the best albums ever. I must warn you though, every time I put on a Nick Drake album Steph say she is going to kill her self. He is kind of depressing, but sometimes you just need that. Pleasantly morose.

sheesh, i’ve been meaning to get some nick drake stuff for a long time now, but never really got around to it. I’ll have to keep that in mind.

buy the whole box set if you can, because it contains everything he recorded and most of it is just wonderful. some of the production on bryter layter gets in the way of the songs, but that’s about the only thing wrong with mr. drake.

and i agree with you, ryan. sometimes melancholy is a good thing.

another band that I was just thinking of that really uses music to tell stories is Belle and Sabastien. They are a Scottish group (not just two people) who have a very laid back, folky low-fi sound. Those of you familiar with Nick Drake will almost certainly recognize his influence on their music (Drake was also a Scot). But they write really interesting poet songs which are more subtle and layered than they appear. they are kind of like Sherwood Anderson stories, pointing out the quirks in the everyday life around us, and the sadness and brokenness, but also the joy. Worth checking out. I only have one of their albums right now-“The Boy with the Arab Strap.”

ps—They are famous for their lengthy and unlikey album titles…

hey ryan, norb, jonnerdude. just thought i’d chime in on this whole nick drake strain because i was going to write in and mention him to norbert until i saw that ryan had beat me to it.

basically what i wanted to say is that he kicks ass, but, as a purely musical commentary, i am a bit put off by alot of his work purely due to over production. especially string arrangements. ugh. his music doesn’t need that, and as far as i know “pink moon” is the only stripped down album he put out.

also, steve earle’s mostly acoustic album “train-a-comin’” is probably my all around favorite. not as controversial, and edgy as “t.b.” or “jerusalem”, but it has alot of great storytelling and sure is easy on the ears.