The Powers of Music- Kerri Powers Reloads and Recharges

Kerri Powers now has a perspective that she didn’t have earlier in her musical career, when she first started out. Powers, opening for Melanie at The Center for Arts in Natick on December 4^th, and headlining her own show on December 6th at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, MA, is emerging from a self-imposed hiatus, taken primarily to raise her son.

                                                                                                     

“I have lot more faith and confidence in my own ability.  I tend to be highly creative and visual, but when I started out, I didn't really have a belief in myself. After giving birth, you get this sense that there is nothing you can't do.  Raising my son, and just so much life experience, have put me in a much different place.  I’m much more likely to go with the flow.”

That ‘flow’ moves through the singer-songwriter Powers with intensity and strength, born of the challenges in life- childrearing, separation and divorce, and probing the depth of her own artistic ‘calling.’  She is re-emerging as a much more self-assured and deeper artist, more solid in her craft, and focused on her calling. 

“I have more clarity, a greater sense of honesty. I feel blessed I can do this, now.  I can’t imagine a life not doing it- music, art- I am clear that this is what ‘I’ do. I know you need, these days, to have 100% of your soul engaged, and faith.  It is not an easy industry to make a living in.”

Personally introspective and intense, it seems increasingly natural that Powers is supremely comfortable with the blues as a force that informs her musical sensibility. There would seem to be a paradox for her- the transparency with feeling and emotions that characterizes the blues, and her own more recent insight into that kind of openness and seamless honesty in her own art. 

“I think from the time I was young, I always resonated with the blues. All music stems from that form.  Of all the music I know, I think it’s the best way to connect with people.  It opens the heart.  If you are gonna put music out there has to be about feeling, connecting with others.  I’ve always been shy, so I know it seems like a paradox, but the blues have always been my way to get out there more.  To me, it’s natural... it's all about the feel, about what it evokes in people.  It’s a very powerful form of music. All music comes from that place- all from the blues.”

As she has grown as an artist and songwriter, she has found a changed music industry. 

"Well, this industry is not easy- it’s completely different than when I started a couple of decades ago. Because of the changes in how artists are marketed, and market themselves, it’s tough.  It’s a great time for indie artists, in some respect, but it is also a heavily saturated market.  I find I just have to do what feels right- do what I do, and go along for the ride." 

Powers’ original songs have a spaciousness of form, an easy confidence about them. They are infused with the blues, but are also threaded with other American musical idioms- country, r and b.  She can power off blues riffs with the best of them, but moves easily through an interesting and sinewy musical landscape.  Her most recent album features two covers- the heartfelt Janis Ian tune ‘Jesse,’ and the BeeGees classic ‘To Love Somebody’.

“When I do a tune written by somebody else, it has to completely absorb me from the get go- has to make me cry.  I am drawn to that very intense vibe. Actually, it was Gram Parson’s version of ‘To Love Somebody’ that caught me. I just went crazy for it, I cried when I heard it. That doesn't happen often for me, so I guess that's how I know.”

She’s not afraid to be interpretive with the work of another songwriter. 

"I believe in artistic license. I think it's right from an artist’s standpoint. If you can’t believe in in yourself enough to wear ‘different hats,’ and enjoy the process- maybe this isn’t for you.  Not everyone is gonna like what you do compared to what they are used to. But it is about being true to ourselves, as artists, as well." 

With her new self-titled new CD, Kerri Powers, she has re-entered the music scene emphatically and with confidence, after a self- and circumstantially imposed hiatus.

“I always hoped I could continue making art.  I never had grandiose ideas about where it would go, though I do think that when we’re older, we learn not to mess with expectations. I love having the ability to grow with what I 'm feeling and fortunate enough to put be in a place to put it out there.  I never had dreams of a star, never got caught up in all that stuff.”

“I guess I never truly was able to ‘stifle’ all of that stuff inside of me. There was a time I had to take a break for an important priority, but that artist part was always there.  I couldn’t leave it behind and be a complete person.”

Powers remains true to her art, and her heart. She can be found online at: Kerri Powers

She is appearing at the Center for the Arts in Natick on December 4^th, at 8pm. She can also be seen at Temple Isaiah in Lexington on the 6^th of December. 

CD REVIEW

Kerri Powers

Kerri Powers 

Available through website: Kerri Powers

Powers eponymous second album is a strong offering, deeply reflective of a thoughtful and somewhat restless talent.  She is a gifted melodist, painting in deep and at times subtle shades of blues and angularity. This is a sparse view of the aural landscape, well suited to her muscular lyrics and delivery.  In Powers’ lyrical world there are few places to hide. 

In her return to recording and touring as a lifestyle choice, Powers is on the fast track as an artist evolving. There is a self-confidence about this set of music that suggests an artist growing comfortable in their own skin, and with their own gifts.

Powers has some real blues chops, mostly restrained on this CD, but threading neatly throughout her tunes. However, those confusing restraint with sedate are warned that Powers has some sharpened steel running through her words; one need only sit through the opening tune, ‘Tallulah Send a Car For Me;’ which sets the stage for Powers to assert herself with authority, as Kevin Costner once said in Bull Durham.  “Can’t wear my alligator boots in church- preacher says all they ever do is drag in dirt, well I think I got some dirt on his clean white shirt.”  And if that isn’t fair warning enough, she also confesses ‘I love lighting firecrackers in the dark.’

And yet, the aching transparency she shows in her cover of Janis Ian’s Jesse reveals a vulnerable heart behind all the bluster of Tallulah. The third tune, an original, ‘Old Shirt’, reveals another aspect of the artist a person; the hurt, and forgiving person, who has ‘come apart at the seams that hold an old shirt together.’

A mature work that delivers, and yet promises in it’s next incarnation to move us even further along on this artistic, evolutionary journey of Powers’. Terrific, listenable, and moving. 

Under 'Re-construction'

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Staying Strait... A Conversation with Chris White of the Straits

Maybe you can’t go home again, but thankfully, there is always the opportunity to revisit great music.  The Straits, featuring two members of Dire Straits, are keeping the music of that legendary band alive and well, and adding to the legacy with some new tunes.  Although Dire Straits has never fully reformed, the interest in their music has never seemed to wane.  Some members of the band put together a few benefit gigs, and to their delight, discovered the chemistry of the band remained intact, and that the magic present when they played live was still working. After a great deal of encouragement from friends and fans, including founder Mark Knopfler, and a catalog of songs that  reflect a virtual soundtrack of the era they were created, "The Straits" are embarking on a tour that showcases the music of “Dire Straits.” Current band members from the original eighties and nineties family include Chris White, the sax player and keyboard player Alan Clark.  They are joined by some of the best side players in the music world. 

White is quite emphatic that “The Straits” are not a “tribute band.”  He’s right. Having helped to create the sound, Clark and White have skin in the game. And heart.

“Really, this is a ‘different band’ than the original Dire Straits. We’ve got a number of new musicians joining us, great musicians. Because they are so good, it’s brought a renewed energy to the music. From the reaction we’ve been getting from audiences, it feels a lot like it did the first time, through.”

The music of Dire Straits sold well over 30,000,000 albums at their peak, winning four Grammy awards. It is deeply embedded in the American music scene, though they hailed from Britain. White thinks he has some insight into that phenomenon, and isn’t immune to it himself.

“I really think that music serves a purpose for people because it ‘locates.’ I’ve got tracks that ‘locate’ people in my life in certain times and places. Just about everyone remembers where they were when they first heard ‘Sultans of Swing.’ For me, I remember driving in the cart, and hearing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for the first time- my mouth was hanging open!”

It’s more than that, he feels. There is a historical context.

“I also think that the Dire Straits stuff was quite different than what was going on in England at the time. It was non-punk. As things progressed with the band, so did technology.  There were more sounds available. Mark (Knopfler, founder, lead guitar player, and main songwriter for the original band) really embraced that.  Some of the later arrangements have quite a large and classical feel. In that regard, the music really stood out to people.”

It still does.

White has great respect for the music he and the band will be playing in Salisbury, and is grateful for the freedom it gives him as a player.

“I started with Mark as a sax player, working on some film stuff with him.  He asked me to join the band. Mark knew me as a solo player, and not really for ensemble work.  As a result, I got a lot of freedom to try things, and work stuff in. I’m not really a jazz player; I’ve been pretty much in rock and pop my whole career. What I was able to do with the songs has been really great for me, I’ve grown a lot.”

The repertoire of the “Straits” covers much of the history of “Dire Straits.”  They are planning on laying down some original tracks in the fall, to see where it takes them.

“That will be music that this band, this group of people will create. We think we have some of our own music in us as a band.”

While the songs in the Salisbury set are going to be familiar to fans, “The Straits” bring something extra to the stage.

“These guys are really great musicians in their own right. Some of the best.  And they bring a wealth of experience and their own unique style to the music, while playing within the fabric of the song. We can do that because these are very good songs. Steve Ferrone isn’t able to join us on the tour- he’s the drummer, and he has some things to do with Tom Petty, the band he mainly plays in. We’ve brought in a drummer from the UK, Andy Davis.  So where Steve might have taken us one place, Andy tends to bring us back to the more original Dire Straits sound, which has also been great.”

“And it’s been great having Terrence Rais out in front of the band on guitar- without even trying, he is able to sound like Mark.  For example, last night, in Portland, Maine, he took off at the end of ‘Sultans of Swing,’ in a way Mark would not have, but was totally in keeping with the song. We were chasing each other in ways we hadn’t before, and then Andy was able to bring us back again.  As a musician, that’s a fantastic opportunity.  That’s given so much new energy to the rest of us, and kept the music fresh. “

White points out that the band reformed as a result of a charity concert in London two years ago.

“Yeah, we got a fantastic reaction, more than we imagined.  So we did a few gigs, and few more, then got serious about doing this. So far, American audiences have been every bit as enthusiastic as the ones we’ve seen in Europe.  We’re playing much smaller venues for this tour, and have been having a great time connecting with the audience.”

Because of their time and place in pop music, that connection has become multi-generational.

“We got an email the other day from a guy who said ‘my father took me to see Dire Straits in 1992, and last night, I took him to see you guys. Thanks for making that possible.  And the other night, two guys hung around after the gig, and came up to us and said ‘thanks for holding on to this music, it’s wonderful.’  We’ve just been knocked out by the response.”