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Darn it! You used to be able to catch 2Rivers for free down at the No Name Bar in Sausalito, but now that there's a real buzz going around about them in Marin County and the Bay Area. Here's part of what Mark Stefanski wrote after seeing them there recently: "As soon as I walk into the joint I can't help but notice these two old salty bar flies in the corner who remind me of the pair of old farts on Sesame Street who are up in the balcony making wisecracks throughout the show. These guys are letting loose a steady stream of snide remarks about the performers who are playing prior to Heather and Chris. My fear is that these two guys will distract audience members from the 2Rivers performance, and I kind of hold my breath when Heather and Chris take the stage. But just 2 or 3 bars of their opening number, Heather and Chris leave these guys agape. Everyone shuts up and listens intently to the music. Heather sings like an angel. Chris reminds me of a slimmed-down version of Lowell George. By the end of the show, in between numbers, Heather is trading fish jokes with the two old farts across the stage..... " Yes, you are going to have to go to a bigger venue than that cozy little dive to catch their live act, especially now that their first CD "Breathing in the Stream" has been released. The opening track "Big Hotel" captures the flavor of their live performances: the two of them, singer Heather Rogers accompanied by Chris Alexander on guitar and vocal harmonies, can fill up a room with sound as well as enthusiastic audiences. In the persona of a sassy secretary with steam to blow off at the weekend, Rogers sings, "Driving, driving, gonna find me a big hotel!" to the ringing open tunings and driving rhythm of Alexander's guitar. Next on the CD we have some swirling watery sounds, called' Inflow' with snatches of isolated vocal and guitar parts you'll hear later on the CD. This could be annoying but somehow it isn't, and then we're into "The Fine Art of Breathing in The Stream" which couldn't be more different from Big Hotel. It's light, liquid and ethereal, with Joni Mitchell-like guitar voicings, and gentle hand percussion and pipe sounds added. Now Roger's voice takes on an altogether softer texture, especially in the coda where she scat sings like a babbling brook. " Oh wow! I can't believe I found out what it means, the fine art of breathing in the stream, " she croons in the chorus, and there's a soulful quality to her voice that makes it impossible to put an ironic or cynical twist on it; neither is it sentimental - it's just plain joyful, which makes it fun to listen to. Another rewarding aspect of 2Rivers is their versatility, and you'll hear plenty of it on their debut CD, even though there are only the two of them performing on it. Rogers varies her delivery for each song and the songs and arrangements are all quite distinct. 'No Valentine' has soft swells of guitar working like a string section, and a faraway trumpet sound for that cocktail-hour mood reminiscent off jazz standards like 'Someone to Watch Over Me'. This all supports Rogers' beautiful vocal inflections that tug at the heartstrings on such lines as, "She doesn''t even want to talk about it - she sometimes wonders what she's doing here" or " she wants to fall into herself tonight and crawl between the sheets till Monday morning" "When A Heart Grows Cold" and " Surrender to The Blues" are both variations on blues forms with minor key feels to them, but "Surrender" has a Duane Eddy sounding-guitar hook in it, whereas "When a Heart Grows Cold" adds some lazy horn synth parts that evoke Sticky Fingers era Rolling Stones recordings. Between these more insistent rhythms and the more delicate tunes such as" No Valentine" and "Breathing in the Stream," Rogers and Alexander have still more colors to their palette, with the gentle yet quietly upbeat songs 'If Not Tonight' and 'What I Need'. Both songs celebrate love and friendship lyrically with simple, unpretentious lyrics: " Don't you ever feel the need to just be with someone/when you don't have to pour your heart out?" asks Rogers in a poignant climax to the second verse of "If not Tonight" and then answers herself with: " Comes a time when snow will fall, all across the countryside if not tonight - all right, some other night; comes a time when you and I will lie down by the fireside if not tonight - all right, some other night. " She seems patient and happy, against a backdrop of winter imagery and distant shimmering guitar textures. "What I Need" has a similar tone lyrically but warmer tones, and this is the only song sung by Alexander, whose voice has a wistful quality. Over this Rogers sings a counterpoint melody in the last verse, and between the verses her voice takes on a gorgeous breathy quality to play call-and-response with a slide guitar riff. 'Miracle Worker', Rogers songwriting contribution to the CD, is in yet another completely different mode, as she belts out her biblical imagery in a powerful gospel/blues style, (shades of Janis Joplin or Susan Tedeschi here) with a raw but engaging irony at times. Playing both parts in an unhappy couple she howls, " -I'm trying to see the light but my heart is feeling empty. - Don't you know that's a job for Jesus Christ and you?" Behind this gutsy delivery from Rogers, Alexander supplies a sparse but funky rhythm track, with some simple but tasty slide guitar riffs. The final full cut on the CD is' Natural Rock n 'Roll Cherokee Texaco Station', an infectious, driving acoustic rocker of a song that makes a perfect bookend to the opening track 'Big Hotel'. 'Cherokee' is a bigger song though. The basic rock 'n roll feel of the verses alternates with heavy drums and vocal chanting which builds to a dramatic climax. The lyrics to this song are unusual, (you can read them all on their website) and both the words and the feeling of the music change from joyfully upbeat to something more serious at the end - if not dark, then at least defiant and haunting. Finally the CD winds down with 'Outflow' and we have more watery sounds, and this time we notice the flowing water is actually different in each speaker (hey, I get it - 2Rivers!!) more snatches of disembodied voices and drums as we fade out, floating off to a distant echoey reprise of "Breathing in the Stream." It all slides away like a fading summer dream. For a home-produced recording, the production values of this CD are really strong. Heather Roger's voice stays front and center throughout, and is varied and expressive. She can sing blues, rock, and ballads equally well. The arrangements are tasteful and interesting and the songs themselves are well crafted; you'll find yourself humming them pretty quickly. The only aspects of 2Rivers' live performance that you won't find on "Breathing in the Stream' are their onstage humor or their quirkier songs, since the CD seems to crafted for texture and variety rather than spontaneity. Humor gets stale quickly though, whereas this CD seems to pass the repeated listening test with flying colors. Now you've got a reason to catch one of their shows and buy a CD. Check out the artist's website: http://www.2riversmusic.com Track List: 1. Big Hotel 2. Inflow 3. The Fine Art of Breathing in the Stream 4. Surrender to the Blues 5. Miracle Worker 6. What I Need 7. If Not Tonight 8. When a Heart Grows Cold 9. No Valentine 10. Natural Rock'n Roll Cherokee Texaco Station 11. Outflow Suggested CDs:Other Genres: |