The Ultimate Career Transition ... From Software Development to Songwriting: Teresa Storch

Blonde-haired, blue eyed Teresa Storch warmed up Salt Lake City's Magpie House Concert stage for Stephanie Corby by describing a phone conversation with her mother. “I have had that exact conversation with my mom about a hundred times!” I told her during the break. Moms, it seems, care about financial security, health care benefits, and 401Ks for their daughters. And rightly so, but getting lost in the quagmire of the 9-to-5 (or more likely 7-to-6) world can lead to a life of passionlessly working ones's brains out to live for the 2-4 weeks of vacation, a few holidays, and weekends.

Teresa jettisoned her ballet slippers and software developer tools when she lost her job, she picked up a guitar, and began to chase her musical dreams. Her journey began in subways and “around town” in her then-hometown of Boston, but since 2003, she's been tantalizing audiences around the country with her spunky brand of acoustic folk music. With CDs – “Live for Now," “Muscle Memory," and "Stream of Concrete" – under her belt, Teresa has proven a quick study on the folk music scene.

At Magpie, Teresa was joined by Drew Frink, her Utah-based musical collaborator. Now based in Denver, Teresa opened the set with “It's Time to Go,” about making the decision to leave Boston. I remember when I left Boston after living there five years: I cried as I kissed the “ground” in my second story apartment.

Teresa's deep, ponderous themes, comforting cadences that modulated then fell, were spell-binding. With her lyrics, she captures common human emotions and “bottles” them with her music. Pigeon-holing Teresa would be impossible: she's all over the folk map, stirring soul and funk into her auditory stew.

“The Eyes of June” captured the emotion of meeting her niece for the first time.

And then she brought you
Held you out to me, I felt so awkward
How could I hold something so small, yet
My heart pounding in my chest
A sudden instinct to protect
You opened up your eyes
I was mesmerized

There’s a new world in the eyes of June

There’s a new world in the eyes of June

There’s a new world in the eyes of June

Everything’s new…in the eyes of June

The tone turned to scintillating slow dance music with “Don't Let Me Down,” from her “Stream of Concrete” CD. When we hear songs like that, we should dance. Just sayin'.

Teresa and Drew wound down their set but not the intensity of the evening with “Holiday" … so cute, so fun, so true! The audience sang “da da da da da” (sort of makes it appear we babbled, but we sounded inspired, really). 

Life came seem unfair 

Yet it's too short to care 

About the shit that keeps us up at night
And I wonder if we really ever help each other

I think we might

And I think I might just like to hear Teresa again ... soon.

Websites

Teresa Storch

Teresa Storch - MySpace

Tripping On Love: Stephanie Corby and David Glaser

Do you trip on love? Do you run from magic?
When you kiss someone, do you make it tragic?
If you feel too much, do you start to panic?
When the word comes up, do you trip on love?
-- Stephanie Corby ("Trip On Love")


Over a hundred concerts in the past nine months and not once have I been moved to tears. That is, until I heard Stephanie Corby sing “Trip On Love,” a song written by her friend Tom Kimmel of Nashville. With no Kleenex in sight or pocket that night at the Magpie House Concert in Sugarhouse, I just held my breath.

I was admittedly worn that evening. The previous night bled into the wee hours of the morning, listening to a friend. Somebody tripped on love – or so it seemed – and it wasn't him. If I could've taken away his pain, I would have done so. Sadly … it wasn't the only tripping tale I'd heard that week. Male and female, everybody who's been single for any length of time has tripped or been tripped on, or both. Maybe what appears to be tripping is evidence that someone can't really love you the way you deserve to be loved, and they know it. The distinction, if there is one, is whether tripping is a regular practice or a one-time miscalculation.

Once I heard Stephanie sing “Trip On Love,” her invisible tentacles surrounded me and I was possessed by her music. Oh yes …her musical partner and solo artist in his own right, David Glaser, sang and played guitar and mandolin. The two delivered ubersultry, rich, earthy vocals with intense emotion. They sang “Learn To Let You Go,” a song which we learned went from concept to CD within 24 hours. Throughout the set, the lyrics were expressive and gripping, with a yearning quality that expressed the invisible force that draws two people together.


You and I were going nowhere
Love was not enough to stay
Gonna have to learn to let you go
It was perfect from the inside out
(“Learn To Let You Go”)

Why do we live in a moment
When the future is so hard to bear?
Why do we cling to the river
When we'll never be there?
(“Choose Me”)

The tone transitioned to comforting cadences that modulated and gradually hushed. The lyrics to the audience sing along rolled easily off the tongue … “do, do, do, do, do.” I was forewarned there would be group singing at least on some limited basis. The person I sat next to went to all three of Stephanie's Salt Lake City concerts that weekend and had already memorized every line, before Friday, I might add.  Quite amusing really.

By the time Stephanie and David sang “True North,” I decided to melt into the chair and listen all night. The duo mixed things up with David's lively, creative 40s swing tune, “Sierra,” featuring the NATO alphabet, followed by a song about an internal pyro with carefully woven mandolin counter melodies.

Deep and ponderous anthems about love and life gave way to some silliness with yummy lyrics like “I'm on vibrate, baby call me, I've got a telephone in my pants.” And then there was the song about Cornelius, the guy who might have been somebody's past life lover. Really, there's nothing worse than reconnecting with your past life lover, especially if you learn he was your lover in several past lives. It's a situation that's just plain doomed.

Towards the end of the set, Stephanie sang a breathtaking rendition of Etta James' “Since I Fell For You” for which I very much regret not doing a video. Why didn't anyone tell me her delivery was going to be that great? The show closed with a bluesy Sippie Wallace tune, “Mighty Tight Woman.”

I've come to you sweet man
Falling on my knees
I've come to you, pretty papa
Falling on my knees
To ask, if you ain't got nobody
Kind darlin', take me please
("Mighty Tight Woman")

As Stephanie said, Sippie wrote that song in 1939 … she was a woman way ahead of her time. Nothing wrong with a woman taking love into her own hands and voice. Besides, what man could resist an offer like that?

The crowd dissipated and I cornered Stephanie in the Magpie kitchen. She shares my love of Boston, my former and her current home, although I'd lobby for her adopting Utah. “When are you coming back?” I asked. That inquiry, more than anything else I could say in this review, speaks volumes.

As fate would have it, I had $4 left in my purse, not enough cash for the show special on Stephanie's CDs, so I came home and hunted for her rendition of Trip On Love” on You Tube.  After endless searching, I found a junior high-ish doo-wap doo-wap sounding version of "Trip On Love" by another artist that totally cheapened the message. Ish.  So I bought the Itunes version of Stephanie's song and loaded it to my phone so have completely indulged my need to hear it … several times a day.

 

 Websites
Stephanie Corby
David Glaser

Lisa Ferraro and Erika Luckett: Sonic Nourishment Comes to Sugarhouse

"If you're not in awe, you're not paying attention."

--Lisa Ferraro and Erika Luckett

Friday evening left me defenseless in a battle with spinach soup. The soup won … my clothes and kitchen were covered in green, and I didn't even have time to eat before I raced out the door. My destination: the Magpie House Concert in mid-Sugarhouse for the Gratitude and Awe Tour featuring Erika Luckett and Lisa Ferrero.     

Erika and Lisa have performed for much larger crowds ... recently they opened for Kenny Loggins in Jacksonville, Oregon's Britt Festival.  But on Friday night, they performed for a group of about 60, including several Utah-based musicians.  We were sipping on beverages and devouring an abundant array of appetizers and desserts when the first set opened with "Sacred Ground," a ponderous exploration of faith and trust on our journey through life:

It’s all about faith, 
it’s all about trust,
it’s all about believing 
that there’s more there for all of us
and how we love,
how we love…

The duo's deep and soulful harmonies that followed were interwoven with winding rhythms.  Early in the program, Lisa's exquisite rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," could have been mistaken for the version by Roberta Flack.   Musically speaking, the evening was a roller coaster of Latin, Blues, Funk, Jazz, New Age, and even a meditative version of "California Dreamin'."  Oh and then echos of the ancient came into play with songs inspired by the poetry of 13th century poet Rumi from their “On the Way of Love” album.  The duo mixed Etta James' "At Last" and a Venezuelan relationship break up song, something about grinding coffee, which is perhaps the rough equivalent of throwing wine glass or plates.
 Songs were sandwiched between discussions of the duo's songwriting process and the songs themselves.  I'll confess I'm not always up for performer chit chat at a concert because I'm there to hear the music.  However, a couple of their stories were genuinely funny and they had an amazing vocabulary between them.

Erika and Lisa began collaborating a few years ago.  Effervescent Lisa, who claps, taps, and moves to her music, has a powerful voice and charming stage presence.  Her rich jazz and songwriting background includes links to Marvin Hamlisch, Hendrick Merkins, Roger Humphries, and internationally recognized arranger Mike Tomaro.  Erika brings her complex guitar fingerings, taps, and touches to the duo's repertoire, not to mention her world music background.  Born in Mexico and raised in Venezuela and Brazil, she was inspired by the confluence of Latin culture and rhythms.

The cornerstone song of the tour and the concert, "Kindness," came during the second set.  The voluminous, series of "oooooooooooooohhhh" intro notes took my breath away.  The jazzy beat gave way to every powerful word ... take a listen to the video above if you haven't already.  Besides repeating the ageless messages of gratitude and kindness, one song doubled as a short science lesson:

7.5 billion cells functioning on our behalf
The miraculous privilege we have of playing this human game.

My favorite song played last before the encore: “Si Volvera,” a Latin, mambo-ish tune with lyrics I scarcely recognized (maybe because there were no words involving food or shopping?).  The world music flavor was, as Erika, who rolls her r's like a native, said: “rambunctious and bombastic.”  The last encore was a crowd sing along to “Evangelina.” It all added up to an evening of “Sonic Nourishment,” … Erika and Lisa wouldn't have it any other way.

Disclosure: Admission price for this event was $15 donation. I received NO compensation for this review.