Brigitte DeMeyer
Something After All
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This third album by Brigitte DeMeyer is laced with some of the top musicians of the day; Brady Blade produced it and plays drums, Buddy Miller electric guitar and background vocal, Daniel Lanois, guitar and pedal steel guitar to name but a few of many who contributed. They are musicians who don’t come unless they believe in the music, and it is easy to see what they like in this project and DeMeyer’s music. She wrote, or co-wrote, 8 of the 11 songs, and those others are written by such as Steve Earle (he also contributes harmonica), Buddy and Julie Miller, and Detweiler. There is the voice that is reminiscent of Sheryl Crow with a touch more sweetness without ever becoming cloying, and her music, with a punch and grit that stands with the best work of Buddy Miller, Brady Blade (particularly his work in Spyboy), and Daniel Lanois. Most of all there is her honesty in the songs, where she isn’t afraid of exposing her vulnerability. She has a feel for her songs and it comes through in the band’s rendition of them. There is a true feel for what she is trying to get across; listen to “Honey Darlin’” and the churchy
(not just gospel) feel to it with the choral singing and claps and foot stomps characteristic of being in a church; or the sad lonesome sound Daniel Lanois’ pedal steel, combined with the backing vocals of Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) contribute to the longing that is apparent in “Something After All.” The songs are well-crafted vignettes that effectively tell the stories and the band uses its collective experience to drive them home effectively. This is a disc that is worth getting a hold of if you like the work of Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Dylan, and Buddy Miller, where boundaries are something to be blurred and disregarded for the benefit of making good music better.