Regular Columnists

Artist: Heather Friesen
Genre: Folk
CD Review:
I was sent a cd of 6 songs/18 minutes, not to judge as an album, but as a collection of songs Heather wants to submit around. I've reviewed a few demos before, but I cringe a little at offering judgement that might carelessly stomp on someone's talent. I do like these songs. Very nice. Though the style of playing and construction does seem to glom together for me. What I mean is, without looking at the cd player to see if another song has started, song #1 morphs an awful lot into song #2. It's the acoustic guitar strumming style that does it. Each song starts with a quiet moment of this before going into the words. Maybe I'm still reviewing as an album man, not a demo man, but I still wish there could be a bit of style separation for the ear. Perhaps something up tempo in between the ballads. Could help make a sale.

'The Fight' begins things, and here are the first 2 verses and chorus: 'she's walking down the street all alone / he jumps her from behind / he pulls her to the shadows and is not kind / she looks at the reflection in the mirror / a stranger's staring back / she knows the bruises and cuts on her face will not last / [chorus:] what's becoming of us / do we care anymore / we've lost the fight but not the war / we will not give up our lives / we will not lie down and die'. A good motive and moral for a song, and I could see this getting into the right kind of compilation cd. Feel free, readers, to give Heather your thoughts on the words.

My favorite song on the cd is simply titled 'I Love You'. This one has a good chord progression, and with a bit of orchestration for violins or elegant flute, I could see this becoming a fine folk tune on someone's album. The lyrics are simple, but sometimes the simplest champions the biggest needs. 'I lie alone awake at night, I, I long for your touch / I wish you were here with me, I / I wouldn't ask for much / just to see your smile / I promise, I won't ask for a while'.

I'm not deeply into folk, but I do realize there is strength and love in these songs. My suggestion, songwriter, would be to join a few folk music discussion groups online, send a few cds to players or intense listeners of your genre, and really take note of their specific damns and praises. Go after the people who buy the albums first, then concentrate more on those who Make the albums.

Good job, Heather.