Carol Hausner a woman's voice in the men's world of bluegrass
'Still Hear Your Voice'
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Montpelier singer Carol Hausner proves herself an able bluegrass artist in her debut album, "Still Hear Your Voice." Stefan Hard/Times Argus |
Toolbox
By Art Edelstein Arts Correspondent - Published: January 2, 2009
There aren't many women singing bluegrass music: It's mostly a man's world. Beyond Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent or the rare Dolly Parton or Emmylou Harris contribution to this genre, most of the vocal heavy-lifting comes from men who are usually Southern born and bred. Thus, a new album by a Vermont woman in this genre is welcome.
Carol Hausner isn't a household name, but this New Jersey native, who built a modest musical career before coming to Vermont, deserves to be heard. On "Still Hear Your Voice," a fine 14-track CD, we find a singer whose slightly nasal soprano works well in the bluegrass idiom.
I should tell you right off the bat, this CD is not a particularly "hot pickin'" album. The songs tend to be of the slower and plaintive variety, giving Hausner lots of space to interpret the material.
While there are five tracks with banjo, much of the CD seems populated with fiddle and mandolin leads and some dobro, and not much lead guitar. While bluegrass music seems attached at the hip to banjo-picking, this album shows how much of the genre does not require an Earl Scruggs approach.
Hausner, along with co-producer Colin McCaffrey, has chosen the material well. She proves a solid writer on the opening track, "Last Years," and the two have penned two memorable songs in "Love Gone By" and "Slipping through My Hands."
Songs by other writers include the Reno-Smiley standard "No Longer a Sweetheart of Mine," A.P. Carter's "I'll Be All Smiles," the country classic "Catfish John" by Allen Reynolds and Bob McDill, the bittersweet Si Kahn tune "Better Half of You," and The Band classic, "It Makes No Difference," by Robbie Robertson among others.
Throughout, Hausner proves an effective song stylist who never lets the material get away from her.
Good bluegrass singing almost demands harmony vocals and this CD has a substantial number of harmony parts. Some fine harmony singing can be found in the mix with appearances by Hausner friends Karen Collins and Eleanor Ellis. Patti Casey, formerly of the Bluegrass Gospel Project, also lends her voice, as does McCaffrey.
While subdued, the instrumentation is superb. McCaffrey, who has carved out a substantial niche in the field of record producing when he is not performing with several bands, proves once again that he is a very talented fellow. He plays all the bass and mandolin parts and most of the fiddle parts while also contributing lead and rhythm guitar and harmony singing. When he needs additional instrumentalists he calls on Jim Pitman for dobro or Andy Greene and Mark Greenberg for banjo.
The mix on this CD is excellent and the fact that the "band" behind Hausner is not her own ensemble, but studio musicians who mostly overdubbed their parts, takes nothing away from the presentation.
"Still Hear Your Voice" is not going to knock your socks off if you like your bluegrass in overdrive, but it is an excellent introduction to the singing of Carol Hausner, whose career in bluegrass seems assured after this offering.
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