GeekForce

There were two essential forks in the road for me prior to devoting this post to my Tara.

Did I expand and galavant into the 3 astonishing consecutive Lillith Fair tours? If I did, would I somehow forget to mention that Tara, along with Sarah McGloghlin, were the artists that performed in all three?

(what? where, you ask? que’?  Lillith Fair(s), you ask?)

Tara’s power lies in her expression. Perhaps it’s her voice. Still likely is her stunning blue eyes; to open Passenger’s case and see her face, well, you’ll injure yourself by colliding with a rigid object, falling down some stairs, or both. Nothing can prepare you for how pretty she is. This alone is the embodiment of that which proves there IS a Higher Power in charge of creating His finer things in our World. There simply isn’t a NON-stunning photo of her out there or anywhere.

Her songwriting is haunting, considerably more so than even Roger Waters’ (of Pink Floyd). She contributes equal, if not more, gripping melodies.  Her lyrics are entirely sensical and relative to life.  Roger’s (and hey, I love Pink Floyd) are relative to the fanciful and imaginary detachment from it.

Tara, a very special person, accesses passion and its accompanying yearning with depth that surpasses permitable reaches in our (even Canada’s) annoyingly shallow society. She contribute a Pablo Neruda poetry selection to the album’s lyric booklet, attesting to the obvious fact that SOMEBODY did an exemplary job up exposing this (very young in ‘98) lady to literary, as well as to melodic songwriting talent.  On the other hand, either or both could quite possibly have originated from within the brilliant lady’s soul itself.  The poem reads, in exerpt: 

“..you exist, not like a vine laced in the tree, but as truth, (it is) your truth..”.

To delve into this young lady’s contributions in JUST this one album is that which cannot be conveyed onto a flat two-dimensional surface. Among the World’s premier lady artists..

(check that:  make this ”premier artists”, and drop the modifying adjective (gender) prefix)

…her work described herein is only one of her two essential albums.  In both of her solo records (listed below), she is backed and mixed with musicians.

Performing live, she simply holds an electric guitar, which one would think her sound then becomes hollow.  BUT, less than a year after signing with her record company, she, a solitary and petite (5′3″, 110-lb-max soaking wet) doll-figure, in front of a gigantic Dave Mathews Band audience, went up on stage, performing one number, even, with only her siren-beckoning voice. The two words that were contained in the first sentence of The Denver Post’s review of her first big (’98) concert appearance was “Sheer Power”. Wrachet that power upwards a few turns of the knob, if you please, on the first Lillith Fair’s stunning live version of ‘Hold Me Jordan’.  Ditto for the studio single on ‘Passenger’.  Her creation of lyrics enveloped in melodies that sing can only come from a divine entity. 

Essential for your collection: ‘Passenger’, and ‘Silence’ (’99).

Next reviews (or at least as soon as I can provide them):

Both Shaye records. And who is this, you ask?

Tara, from PEI, Canada, hooked up with a couple of Newfoundland ladies, creating the group.  Tara writes a slight majority of the material, but the other two contribute mightily to the effort. All three ladies are ridiculously beautiful, to the degree of that which is absurdly impossible. I’m throwing a flag.

Lillith Fair (vol 1, 2, and 3; there’s one for each year)–there’s a tremendous amount of exemplary music in these three now-obscure albums. These aren’t just great lady artists (they ARE all ladies), they are simply great artists. Preview: Natalie Merchant singing and playing on hammond “In the Ghetto”, a major Elvis Presley “package artist” tune, with Natalie adding a ringing trumpet solo.  Tara cranks a plugged in-acoustic (with a hauntingly eerie electronic slidebox in the background) Bring kleenex.  In all, the ‘Fair Collection’ contributes over forty tracks by 33 (lady) artists in a collection of nothing you’ve ever heard before.

Buy Tara; you’ll have to go online for her solo stuff. Shaye? Close your eyes and pick. Check both sites: taramaclean.com (plus others) that are creations of art in and of themselves;if you view shayemusic.com and gasp audibly, expect to make your wife exude that which is equal parts nervous and vituperative.