[FM] FAME Review: Eliza Gilkyson's "Hard Times In Babylon" written by Moshe Benarroch

[David N. Pyles]

Hard Times In Babylon
Eliza Gilkyson

RHR CD 146

Red House Records
P.O. Box 4044
St. Paul, MN 55104

1-800-695-4687

http://www.redhouserecords.com

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Moshe  Benarroch 
(moben@barak-online.net)

I was lucky to be in Austin in March 1999, (as the featured poet in the 
Austin International  Poetry Festival), having the time of my life 
listening to more singer-songwriters than I ever had before. I guess the 
stars were with me back then: One of those stars was Eliza Gilkyson, who 
performed at the Cactus Cafe with Cliff Eberhardt and Jimmy Lafave.  (Now, 
if I only had a tape...).

There was this woman in her early forties, singing with her high voice, and 
chilling the audience as if it were the first time she had ever sung there, 
or the first time anyone had ever heard her. When I first listened to her 
cd, "Hard Times in Babylon," I wondered why the songs sounded so familiar, 
until I realized I remembered many of them from that special evening in 
Austin. Gilkyson's songs are immediately catchy, without in any way being 
the commercial stuff they try to sell us as music these days.

Gilkyson stands somewhere between Chrissie Hynde and Enya, and takes 
the  best of both worlds, new age and rock. She is still a folkie at 
heart  and writes deep songs with unforgettable lines, like:

"Won't you carry me through my soul's dark night
won't you shine my way with your big headlights
won't you lift me up when I shiver and shake
won't you change my luck won't you give me a break"
(from "Engineer Bill")

Many of the songs in this great album deal with loss, and the holes left in 
us by people who leave us. The production is very clear and very good, and 
although the promo sheets says this is a minimal production, I still wish 
there was less. Most of the time I longed for the stripped down versions 
with vocals and guitar that she sang at the Cactus Cafe in Austin. But 
then, this is a cd I can listen to again and again, while great memories 
can change and improve with time. And that is what this cd is about.

A winner. And the best female folk cd of the year.

Track List:

Beauty Way
Hard Times In Babylon
Highway
Coast
Engineer Bill
Persephone
Baby's Walking
Twisted
Flatline In My Dreams
Walk Away From Love
Sanctuary

Edited by Lindsay Cobb

Copyright 2001, Peterborough Folk Music Society. This review may 
be  reprinted with prior permission and attribution.

=====================
David N. Pyles
acousticmusic.com
P. O. Box 459
Brattleboro, VT 05302-0459
(802) 257-0336 Mon-Thur 9:30am-4:30pm
http://www.acousticmusic.com/frames
http://www.acousticmusic.com/frames/fame.htm
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