Liz Simmons’ latest album “Poets” reflects a lot of thought and feeling from this Vermont folk artist. Moreover, Simmons has a special, unique way of keeping her music low key and stirring at once. After she lulls you into her world of gentle music, you can feel yourself moving with her keen sense of direction. Simmons also delivers it all with an unerring feel for how to get acoustic instruments to work for her.
.Opening track “When The Waters Rise” finds Simmons applying her voice to peaks and valley of a rustic dobro line and a peppy percussion instrument. Moving alongside a juicy slide guitar, Simmons rides the small waves of support with a delicate ease. It’s a treat for ears to hear how she applies her voice, moving it to this lilting sound.
Simmons’ voice is a beautiful whispery thing on “Who Knows Where The Time Goes.” A subtle and graceful presence, she effortlessly moves her tender vocal over her sensitive piano line. The beauty is in how she sings as freely as the weepy pedal steel in the backdrop
Title track “Poets” has tiny piano notes, bright and shiny, falling like raindrops. Meanwhile, Simmons moves her smooth, soft voice over the mist at a considerate pace. The vocal line matches the sophistication of the piano in the way Simmons gives only enough voice per measure to breathe life and beauty into this without overwhelming the sonic landscape. Her voice is a perfect instrument and she plays it well, like a flute that can sound brightly and loudly with brief quiet notes.
With a hint of old Irish music, “My Love Lies The Ground” with two fiddles, a banjo, and a double bass. The old world vibe gets an authentic push from the players as Simmons soulfully emotes her sorrow for a lost love. It’s uncanny how well Simmons has mastered the pacing of this genre of music which was initially conceived in an early century and how well she channels it in today’s world. She’s full of heart and soul, mourning and sorrow at once. Simmons and her players also maintain a tension in the rhythm which makes its double back on the lyrics and voice, conjuring more feeling.
A mood piece, “Adventurer” lets the listener hear how well Simmons can carry us through a landscape of sadness, leaving us feel lifted, balancing different emotions within her vocal work and in her piano line. With cellist Natalie Haas providing a forlorn emotion in the backdrop, Simmons has to work even harder to maintain emotive control in this piece, and she does. This rainy day weeper works on many levels because Simmons can hear music and parse emotions on multiple levels at once.
“Sailing To The Shore” offers more of Simmons smooth, tender vocal. Here, she gets extra whispery, cooing, sustaining her voice, getting support from backing vocalist Nicole Zuraitis. Simmons’ bag of tricks are like crayons she uses to color in this sonic landscape. The vocal work meshes with Zuraitis’s piano melody and Gabe Bradshaw’s one man rhythm section, a connection that feels more like magic than craft.
“Night In The City” politely bounces along on the strength of Natalie Haas’s cello and Simmons own acoustic guitar strum. Simmons’ whispery voice rides that pleasant lilt, keeping things engaging and fun. It’s a light whisper into the ear from a beauteous voice with enough musical gravitas to make it stand out.
Simmons’ cover of “Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, and Sylvia Moy’s “This Old Heart Of Mine” gets a sly acoustic instrument treatment. Simmons maintains the catchy, hooky fun of the original Isley Brothers’ recording while relying on sweet notes from Flynn Cohen’s mandolin, Wes Corbett’s banjo, and Corey DiMario’s double bass to deliver the emotive ride while Simmons, Zuraitis, and Dunia Best provide beautiful, cooing voices. It’s a clever reinvention.
Close out track “Home From The Storm” is a slow boiler, beginning with Simmons singing a dreamscape with puffs of soft, tender vocals. It eventually moves onto a wider sound, a slight increase from Simmons, then a lean, muscular lead guitar line from Gabe Bradshaw. While the song remains low key, the slight shift in dynamics and interjection of electric guitar make the listener feel it bloom into three dimensional life.
This album Poets lets Simmons showcase what she can do with her most precious of gifts, her voice. She applies her vocals in many different ways and each approach is a success. Her arrangements of acoustic instruments with her own guitar and piano make each piece a bouquet of precious sounds. Recorded by Gabe Bradshaw at Hawkmoon Audio in Brattleboro, and featuring guest players Andy Hall, Pete Grant, Dan Pugach, Emerald Rae, Lissa Schneckenburger, Hannah Sanders, and Stefan Amidon, Poets rings out with a beautifully authentic and rustic sound.
