Carrie Rodriguez
Love and Circumstances
By Lee Hildebrand
I don't need a knife/I don't need a gun/I know how to steal your love/I don't want your drugs/I don't want your money/I just wanna steal your love, Carrie Rodriguez sings with seductive sass on "Steal Your Love," a Lucinda Williams song from her new CD on the Berkeley-based Ninth Street Opus label. Rodriguez's soulful mezzo tones are framed by Bill Frisell's gently weeping guitar, and her band's loping, two-beat country-rock groove.
The daughter of Texas singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and a first-rate tunesmith in her own right, the Austin-based singing fiddler, mandolinist, and tenor guitarist delivers only interpretations of others' work on her third solo disc, including songs by Merle Haggard, John Hiatt, Julie and Buddy Miller and, Richard Thompson, M. Ward, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and her dad. Producer Lee Townsend provides her with elegant folk-country support and augments her band with guest pickers Frisell, Greg Leisz, and Doug Wamble. Her reading of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," backed only by Frisell's guitar and her own mandolin, is particularly haunting.
The ringer is "La Puñalada Trapera" ("The Ragman's Stab"), a waltz popularized in the 1950s by her great aunt, San Antonio-born ranchera singer Eva Garza. One needn't necessarily be conversant in Spanish to feel the passion that flows up from Rodriguez's lungs and trips off her tongue. (Ninth Street Opus)
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Texas fiddler Carrie Rodriguez gets back to her roots - Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Bonnie Horgos
Posted: 06/24/2010 12:15:17 PM PDT
For most classical musicians, a scholarship at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory would be the ultimate career crescendo. Yet there violinist Carrie Rodriguez was, yearning for her homeland of Austin, Texas.
"I was sitting in my dorm room playing along with Hank Williams records instead of practicing Tchaikovsky," Rodriguez said. "I missed the music of Texas. I missed doing different things with my violin."
Getting back to her roots, the 30-something Rodriguez has since become a singer-songwriter, creating Americana albums filled with twangs, slides and, of course, plenty of fiddle she continued to study violin at Berklee College of Music. Rodriguez's album "Love and Circumstances," released April 13, delivers covers of her favorite songs, which she'll perform tonight at Don Quixote's.
"Some of the songs have been a part of my live shows for three or four years," Rodriguez said. "I would often close with my great-aunt Eva Garza's song La Punalada Trapera.' People would come up asking where they could get a recording of the song."
That's where "Love and Circumstances" comes in, the song appropriately closing the album.
Family is obviously an important theme of "Love and Circumstances." Rodriguez also covers her father, popular Texas singer-songwriter David Rodriguez, on "When I Heard Gypsy Davy Sing."
Paying tribute to her dad was important; he introduced Rodriguez to music, giving her a Leonard Cohen record for her 9th birthday she didn't
pick it up until angst kicked in at age 13. The two began playing music together, touring the Netherlands by the time Rodriguez was 15.
Musicians didn't have to be blood relatives to get on the album, though. Other covered artists include Merle Haggard, M. Ward and -- how could she not? -- Hank Williams. Rodriguez croons the godfather of country's heart-wrenching song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry;" she seems comfortable with her vocals, giving the classic the emotion it deserves.
Rodriguez wasn't always belting out the ballads, though.
Chip Taylor, the popular songwriter who penned "Wild Thing," asked Rodriguez to sing backup vocals for a European tour after he heard her perform in 2001 at the Austin music festival South By Southwest.
"I wanted the gig, so I tried to give him what he wanted," Rodriguez said.
Pretty soon, the two were singing duets together; they released an album in 2002 and have since released several albums together.
Even with the acclaimed musician's support, Rodriguez was worried.
"I'd say to him, People are going to hear this and know I'm a violinist, not a singer,'" Rodriguez said. "I thought since I worked so hard on the violin, I had to work equally as hard at singing."
With time, Rodriguez became comfortable singing, discovering it helped her violin playing as well; she teaches at summer fiddle camps when she can, always having the kids sing melodies before striking their bow.
"Singing helped me to play the violin more lyrically," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez will bring her fiddle to Don Quixotes's tonight at 7:30 p.m., which will definitely be a change of scenery for the Texan.
"I feel lucky that I get to see so many places on tour, especially Don Quixote's," Rodriguez said. "As I recall, it's up there in the mountains, with ... are those redwoods? Yes, redwoods."
Posted: 06/24/2010 12:15:17 PM PDT
For most classical musicians, a scholarship at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory would be the ultimate career crescendo. Yet there violinist Carrie Rodriguez was, yearning for her homeland of Austin, Texas.
"I was sitting in my dorm room playing along with Hank Williams records instead of practicing Tchaikovsky," Rodriguez said. "I missed the music of Texas. I missed doing different things with my violin."
Getting back to her roots, the 30-something Rodriguez has since become a singer-songwriter, creating Americana albums filled with twangs, slides and, of course, plenty of fiddle she continued to study violin at Berklee College of Music. Rodriguez's album "Love and Circumstances," released April 13, delivers covers of her favorite songs, which she'll perform tonight at Don Quixote's.
"Some of the songs have been a part of my live shows for three or four years," Rodriguez said. "I would often close with my great-aunt Eva Garza's song La Punalada Trapera.' People would come up asking where they could get a recording of the song."
That's where "Love and Circumstances" comes in, the song appropriately closing the album.
Family is obviously an important theme of "Love and Circumstances." Rodriguez also covers her father, popular Texas singer-songwriter David Rodriguez, on "When I Heard Gypsy Davy Sing."
Paying tribute to her dad was important; he introduced Rodriguez to music, giving her a Leonard Cohen record for her 9th birthday she didn't
pick it up until angst kicked in at age 13. The two began playing music together, touring the Netherlands by the time Rodriguez was 15.
Musicians didn't have to be blood relatives to get on the album, though. Other covered artists include Merle Haggard, M. Ward and -- how could she not? -- Hank Williams. Rodriguez croons the godfather of country's heart-wrenching song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry;" she seems comfortable with her vocals, giving the classic the emotion it deserves.
Rodriguez wasn't always belting out the ballads, though.
Chip Taylor, the popular songwriter who penned "Wild Thing," asked Rodriguez to sing backup vocals for a European tour after he heard her perform in 2001 at the Austin music festival South By Southwest.
"I wanted the gig, so I tried to give him what he wanted," Rodriguez said.
Pretty soon, the two were singing duets together; they released an album in 2002 and have since released several albums together.
Even with the acclaimed musician's support, Rodriguez was worried.
"I'd say to him, People are going to hear this and know I'm a violinist, not a singer,'" Rodriguez said. "I thought since I worked so hard on the violin, I had to work equally as hard at singing."
With time, Rodriguez became comfortable singing, discovering it helped her violin playing as well; she teaches at summer fiddle camps when she can, always having the kids sing melodies before striking their bow.
"Singing helped me to play the violin more lyrically," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez will bring her fiddle to Don Quixotes's tonight at 7:30 p.m., which will definitely be a change of scenery for the Texan.
"I feel lucky that I get to see so many places on tour, especially Don Quixote's," Rodriguez said. "As I recall, it's up there in the mountains, with ... are those redwoods? Yes, redwoods."
NevadaAppeal.com
Unique sound comes to local Brewery
By Karel Ancona-Henry 
Carrie Rodriguez will perform at the Brewery Arts Center on Sunday.
Listen to Carrie Rodriguez play, and the first realization that comes is how fantastically talented she is. Try to figure out how to categorize the sound, and one thing that's absolutely clear is there is no defining what she does, a fact that she finds pleasing.
“People will see me in an elevator with my guitar and ask what kind of music I play and since I figure they're not going to know who I am anyway, I just say I'm a jazz musician,” she said, laughing. “Or when we're on the road and pumping gas at a gas station, people ask and I tell them I'm a member of the Miami Sound Machine.”
This is usually met, Rodriguez said, with “‘they're touring again?' or for the under-30 crowd you totally lose them.”
“I like that there's no way to pinpoint the sound specifically,” she said. “I play guitar and fiddle. I'm a singer/songwriter who plays whatever resonates with me, and hopefully it all works together.”
This classically trained violinist comes from a family rich with musical and artistic ability.
“My mother (Katy Nail) is a visual artist and my dad (Dave Rodriguez) is a singer/songwriter who used to put me to sleep at night listening to angry, political music,” she said. “I never had a plan to do this when I grew up, but I also never had a Plan B or any pressure to have a Plan B — my mom paints and makes her living at it, so I grew up with the feeling that you should do what you love.”
And making music is her love.
She is inspired in her own writing and performing by simple things — the beauty of nature, the places she travels and people she meets.
“Just opening the front door and stepping outside inspires me,” she said. “I really enjoy playing so of course being on stage is a joy, and the studio work is awesome because rather than focusing on the audience and do they like me, the entire focus is on making the most beautiful song possible.”
Rodriguez also looks for simplicity and craftsmanship when selecting others artists' songs to play or record.
“Songs with simple lyrics that grab me and are beautifully crafted, definitely,” she said. “Rex's Blues,” is one title on her latest CD, “Love & Circumstances,” released in April. This is a compilation of cover songs that have touched her in some way, and also celebrates her family, including her great aunt Eva Garza who had recorded on Decca Records in the 1950s. The song “When I Heard Davy Gypsy Sing,” is a tribute to her father.
“It really is his autobiography. He left when I was 15, went to Europe and hasn't set foot on U.S. soil since,” she said. “His leaving was very emotional for the family ... that song is heavy, and it's heavy singing it, but it's also a healing song. A very emotionally charged song.
“I started playing clubs in Austin with my dad when I was 12,” she said. “When I was 14, we were playing at La Zona Rosa, and my mom would tell me to come home before midnight, because it was a school night, and of course, Dad would bring me home at 12:30 or 1:30 (a.m.).
“So I was singing at La Zona Rosa and there was this really cute waiter, who was a little older who also had a band, which of course made him the ideal crush for me,” she said. “At 12:05 here he came, tapping my foot and when I leaned down he said, ‘Uh Carrie, your mother's on the phone, it's time to come home.' That was soooo humiliating.”
Today with no curfew in her way, Rodriguez is free to bring the house down. She takes the stage Sunday at Brewery Arts Center Outdoor Amphitheater, 449 W. King St.
“People will see me in an elevator with my guitar and ask what kind of music I play and since I figure they're not going to know who I am anyway, I just say I'm a jazz musician,” she said, laughing. “Or when we're on the road and pumping gas at a gas station, people ask and I tell them I'm a member of the Miami Sound Machine.”
This is usually met, Rodriguez said, with “‘they're touring again?' or for the under-30 crowd you totally lose them.”
“I like that there's no way to pinpoint the sound specifically,” she said. “I play guitar and fiddle. I'm a singer/songwriter who plays whatever resonates with me, and hopefully it all works together.”
This classically trained violinist comes from a family rich with musical and artistic ability.
“My mother (Katy Nail) is a visual artist and my dad (Dave Rodriguez) is a singer/songwriter who used to put me to sleep at night listening to angry, political music,” she said. “I never had a plan to do this when I grew up, but I also never had a Plan B or any pressure to have a Plan B — my mom paints and makes her living at it, so I grew up with the feeling that you should do what you love.”
And making music is her love.
She is inspired in her own writing and performing by simple things — the beauty of nature, the places she travels and people she meets.
“Just opening the front door and stepping outside inspires me,” she said. “I really enjoy playing so of course being on stage is a joy, and the studio work is awesome because rather than focusing on the audience and do they like me, the entire focus is on making the most beautiful song possible.”
Rodriguez also looks for simplicity and craftsmanship when selecting others artists' songs to play or record.
“Songs with simple lyrics that grab me and are beautifully crafted, definitely,” she said. “Rex's Blues,” is one title on her latest CD, “Love & Circumstances,” released in April. This is a compilation of cover songs that have touched her in some way, and also celebrates her family, including her great aunt Eva Garza who had recorded on Decca Records in the 1950s. The song “When I Heard Davy Gypsy Sing,” is a tribute to her father.
“It really is his autobiography. He left when I was 15, went to Europe and hasn't set foot on U.S. soil since,” she said. “His leaving was very emotional for the family ... that song is heavy, and it's heavy singing it, but it's also a healing song. A very emotionally charged song.
“I started playing clubs in Austin with my dad when I was 12,” she said. “When I was 14, we were playing at La Zona Rosa, and my mom would tell me to come home before midnight, because it was a school night, and of course, Dad would bring me home at 12:30 or 1:30 (a.m.).
“So I was singing at La Zona Rosa and there was this really cute waiter, who was a little older who also had a band, which of course made him the ideal crush for me,” she said. “At 12:05 here he came, tapping my foot and when I leaned down he said, ‘Uh Carrie, your mother's on the phone, it's time to come home.' That was soooo humiliating.”
Today with no curfew in her way, Rodriguez is free to bring the house down. She takes the stage Sunday at Brewery Arts Center Outdoor Amphitheater, 449 W. King St.
Beth Peerless: Singer, songwriter and violinist Carrie Rodriguez goes back to her roots on new album - MontereyHerald.com
Cruzin'
Posted: 06/24/2010 01:47:15 AM PDT
Updated: 06/24/2010 09:50:10 AM PDT
But that's not the case and it never has been for the young woman named Carrie Rodriguez.
Taylor could not deny her talent when he saw her at the 2001 South by Southwest music conference in Austin. At his request, they proceeded to tour the world for several years as a duo, and to record four albums.
The Austin-based violinist, guitarist, singer and songwriter has spread her wings and is soaring in her solo career, especially now with the release of her latest recording "Love and Circumstance."
Produced by the legendary Lee Townsend, the album is a scrapbook of other musicians' songs that have meaning in Rodriguez's relatively short life, all of 31 years.
First and foremost there are a couple tunes by her father, David Rodriguez, followed by influential roots music artists John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner (aka Little Village), Buddy and Julie Miller, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt, M. Ward, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens, Hank Williams and Lucinda Williams.
"It was very important for me to go back to my
roots with this record and concentrate on what was important to me," Rodriguez explained, "songwriters like Richard Thompson, Townes, Hank, they're the ones who initially inspired me."
In addition to Taylor, she has toured with Alejandro Escovedo and Lucinda Williams. Her trio currently lists Hans Holzen on guitars and Kyle Kegerreis on bass.
Guest artists on "Love and Circumstance," recorded at her new record label Ninth Street Opus' studios in Berkeley and at the renowned Fantasy Studios, include guitarist Bill Frisell, pedal steel and slide guitarist Greg Leisz, and vocalists Aoife O'Donovan (from Crooked Still) and Buddy Miller contributing background harmony.
"Greg Leisz is the greatest pedal steel player in the world, and for someone with a Bill Frisell record collection, getting to play with him is a dream," Rodriguez said in her promotional materials.
"15th Annual Houston Women's Festival" With Sarah Bettens, Carrie Rodriguez, Blame Sally, Ginger Leigh, Flawlessly Inadequate, Michelle Malone, Halcyon, Houston, TX - "15th Annual Houston Women's Festival" With Sarah Bettens, Carrie Rodriguez, Blame Sally, Ginger Leigh, Flawlessly Inadequate, Michelle Malone, Halcyon, event - "15th Annual Houston Women's Festival" With Sarah Bettens, Carrie Rodriguez, Blame Sally, Ginger Leigh, Flawlessly Inadequate, Michelle Malone, Halcyon Houston Texas | LikeMe
The Inside Word
Houston Press
Houston, TX"15th Annual Houston Women's Festival"
Hard to believe it‘s been 15 years since the inaugural Houston Women‘s Festival, but time flies when you‘re having fun. This year‘s local Lilith Fair is headlined by Atlanta-based Michelle Malone, whose album Debris recently made the first cut for consideration an Americana Grammy nomination. Malone is cut from the same blues-rockin‘ cloth as Bonnie Raitt and Anne McCue, and knows what to do with that glass slide when she slips it on her ring finger. The festival‘s strong lineup also includes Minneapolis indie-rockers Sick of Sarah, Florida acoustic duo Halcyon, bluesy Seattle rocker Vicci Martinez, and Austin‘s funkster poet Suzanna Choffel. Locals include rootsy rockers Gadget White and jazzy metal-meisters Flawlessly Inadequate.
Hard to believe it‘s been 15 years since the inaugural Houston Women‘s Festival, but time flies when you‘re having fun. This year‘s local Lilith Fair is headlined by Atlanta-based Michelle Malone, whose album Debris recently made the first cut for consideration an Americana Grammy nomination. Malone is cut from the same blues-rockin‘ cloth as Bonnie Raitt and Anne McCue, and knows what to do with that glass slide when she slips it on her ring finger. The festival‘s strong lineup also includes Minneapolis indie-rockers Sick of Sarah, Florida acoustic duo Halcyon, bluesy Seattle rocker Vicci Martinez, and Austin‘s funkster poet Suzanna Choffel. Locals include rootsy rockers Gadget White and jazzy metal-meisters Flawlessly Inadequate.
Carrie Rodriguez explores heartbreak and romance | Features | Charleston City Paper
Carrie Rodriguez explores heartbreak and romance | Features | Charleston City Paper
Hard love from Texas by T. Ballard Lesemann
Hard love from Texas by T. Ballard Lesemann
"I really enjoy the juxtaposition of kind of a pretty, up-sounding melody with deadly sad lyrics — that's such a great combination," says acclaimed singer/songwriter Carrie Rodriguez. Listening to her new release Love and Circumstance, a beautiful and melancholic collection of renditions that includes songs written by her father and her aunt — it takes just a few moments to get her point.
After years of collaboration with other artists, Rodriguez only recently started recording her own albums and touring with her own band. Love and Circumstance, her third studio album, steps away from the craft of songwriting and focuses on presenting a consistent theme.
"There's nothing too happy on this album," the Austin, Texas, native says with a chuckle. "There are only a few glimmers of hope. It started with a song I sing in Spanish ["La Puñalada Trapera"], which was a song my great aunt recorded 50 years ago. It was part of my set when I played live. People asked me, When is that song going to be on an album?' and I thought, 'I better make one.'"
She almost added a recording of "La Puñalada Trapera" on her previous album of original music, but she felt it'd be out of place. The title translates into "the treacherous backstab."
"That song is a deadly kind of love song," says Rodriguez. "It's really dramatic. It's basically saying, 'My life is ruined and it's all your fault.' I started from that point, and there were a few other covers that I'd been singing for years, like Lucinda Williams' 'Steal Your Love' and Merle Haggard's 'I Started Loving You Again.' Then I started digging deep and thinking about which songs were most important to me."
Love and Circumstance meanders from tragedy and heartbreak to almost comical frustration and disappointment. Rodriguez and her band sway from one elegant countrified style to another — from straightforward boot stompers and slow waltzes to more misty and spacious acoustic ballads.
"They're all such great songs, so I wanted the lyrics to be a dominating force on each track," says Rodriguez. "It's a tricky balance. I was an instrumentalist first, and I also place a lot of importance on the sound of the track and the sound of the instruments and the effects that we use. But we also try to let the lyrics dominate in an appropriate way."
Love and Circumstance includes compositions from some of the finest folk, pop-rock, and country songsmiths out there. The tracks include the harmony-heavy "Big Love" by Little Village, the waltzy "Wide River to Cross" by Buddy Miller & Julie Miller, the mandolin-driven tune "Eyes on the Prize" by M. Ward, and the strummy Williams heartbreaker "Steal Your Love." The feathery "When I Heard Gyspy Davy Sing" was penned by Rodriguez's father, David. Other highlights include numbers by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Richard Thompson, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt.
"I try to be in the story of the songs and feel the emotion of the character," says Rodriguez. "Hopefully, it comes out sounding as natural as possible. I grew up playing the violin. I don't have the ability to do fancy things with my voice, so I don't even try. I just try to sound honest, especially when covering other people's songs."
There's plenty of space in the songs, with a clean and crisp separation within the instrumentation and arrangements. It allows Rodriguez to sing easily over things with clarity and expression.
"I think you can hear my Texas twang a lot more," she admits. "I don't know if that was from nerves or nervous energy, but there is definitely a difference between how I sang years ago. It was more tense a few years ago. Now, I just try to put myself inside of the songs. I don't worry about technique, and I try not to over-think things."
In addition to a few guest vocal appearances from Aoife O'Donovan (of Crooked Still) and Buddy Miller, Rodriguez was quite excited to handle the studio sessions with support from her regular backing band of drummer Eric Platz, bassist Kyle Kegerreis, and guitarist Hans Holzen.
"This was my core touring band on the record," she says. "We'd been playing for year already, so it was a real luxury."
This week's show will be an abbreviated version, with Luke Jacobs on pedal steel and Holzen on mandolin and six-string guitar. Rodriguez will switch between fiddle, tenor guitar, and electric mandolin.
"We do have a lot of electric instruments, so we'll still be able to make some ambient, lush sounds," says Rodriguez. "Part of the fun of it for me is playing with different ensembles and having to play things in a very different way. It means I need to change the arrangement or the tempo, which is fun because it keeps it fresh for me. I don't run the risk of going on auto-pilot."
Monday, June 14, 2010
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