a rotating cast of classy characters that includes/ has included:
MARK SPENCER, ANDY COTTON, DOUG WYGAL, KRISTIN MUELLER, DENNIS CRONIN, STEVE LEWIS, RICHARD MORRIS, JOHN LECESSEE, CHRISTIAN GIBBS, MIKE COHEN, LEX PRICE, NICK BUDA, JONATHAN TREBING, DAVE JAQUES, CHARLIE CHADWICK . . .
Influences
in no particular order:
jolie holland, cat power, lucinda williams, elliott smith, karen dalton, iron and wine, stephin merritt, calexico, the cure, gillian welch, feist, sam phillips, emmylou harris, air, kathleen edwards, aimee mann, madeleine peyroux, amy correia, jeff buckley, joy zipper, hank williams, johnny cash, laura veirs, cortney tidwell, nouvelle vague
Sounds Like
. . . [Thieves] begins with electrified turbulence, passes through wide-awake freedom, and emerges on the edge of an unmarked town stripped of nearly everything but her voice and her emotions. While the trend in singer-songwriters of the indie-rock persuasion is toward naivete and pre-teen vocalizing, Burson sings like a grown soul, aware of the repercussions of her choices . . .
- Roy Kasten, No Depression, Nov./ Dec. 2007
. . Hers is a knowing voice, world-weary like Lucinda Williams’, expressive like Kathleen Edwards’, mysterious like Jolie Holland’s [and] THIEVES is the sound of a magnificent lily caught in mid-flowering, its rich scent already piercing the air.
- Fred Mills, Harp Magazine, Sept./ Oct. 2007
On her sophomore LP, this Tennessee native hungers for a lost love within musical laments built on Americana roots and indie-rock lilts. Tender sentiments give way to embittered warbles with tracks like the wronged-gal anthem, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin,’” which Burson undresses to a soulful cry and a lone twangy banjo. Intimate and brooding, THIEVES is the confessions, obsessions, and mixed emotions of the broken-hearted.
- Helen Matatov, CMJ New Music Monthly, Sept. 2007
Erstwhile Nashvillian Clare Burson has been making records of understated beauty ever since she released her evocative debut, The In-Between, in 2003. Now living in Brooklyn, she recorded her new Thieves with Nashville producer Fognode, a sculptor of ambient musical textures who imbues Burson's plainspoken originals with a creaky splendor that evokes the blues of Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta but doesn't really sound like either. Hooked by dissonant flecks of banjo, the disc's cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is likely to get folks talking, but hopefully it won't overshadow Burson's own haunting studies in brown. Sung in her by turns gauzy and clarion alto, several of her songs would sound right at home alongside the more down-tempo numbers on Leslie Feist's gorgeous new album.
- Bill Friskics-Warren, The Tennessean, 7/13/07
“Hers is a knowing voice, world-weary like Lucinda Williams’, expressive like Kathleen Edwards’ [and] mysterious like Jolie Holland’s.”
- Fred Mills for Harp Magazine
Of her musical objectives, singer-songwriter Clare Burson explains, “I’ve always leaned towards poetic simplicity and subtlety in my music—wanting to express as much as I can with the fewest possible words and musical flourishes.” This desire for melodic minimalism manifests itself into an effortless sound, filled with deceptively straightforward lyrics and unforced harmonies. As in her previous releases, Burson’s new album Thieves is a collection of heartbreaking love songs, characterized by evocative imagery and subtle metaphors.
Inspired by her relocation from Nashville to Brooklyn, Thieves reflects Burson’s newfound perspective on music, both in terms of her career and her artistry. Burson was able to let go of conventional ideas that define musical success and focus on the joy and comfort of writing and performing. She also relinquished some artistic control with Thieves, “letting the specifics of song selection, arrangement and instrumentation remain spontaneous and open for discussion.”
In June 2006, Nashville-based co-producer Fognode joined the newly transplanted Burson in New York. “The decision to work with Fognode was a relatively easy one. We had worked together enough for us both to understand how much and where we could push the other musically.” The two set up shop in a Brooklyn brownstone, opening the windows, turning up Burson’s amp and unpacking suitcases full of recording gear.
A classically trained violinist, and later, conversant in Bluegrass, Celtic and Klezmer fiddle tunes, Burson began playing guitar while studying history at Brown University. After college and a year in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, Burson spent two years in Boston before returning to Tennessee. Her songs have been heard on Dawson's Creek, and the ABC dramas, Six Degrees and Big Shots.
In March of 2007, Burson was awarded a two-year Six Points Fellowship, which is funding her current project due out in March 2009. The new album involves grandmothers, Eastern Europe, and a 100+ year old wedge of cheese.
Thanks for joining my netowrk of friends. Great music. I'll be back for more. I won't go into how pretty you look. I'm sure you hear that all too often. Rbw
Hey Clare.. long time no see.. hope the music and the road is treating you well... i've since started my own band after the Ashton Allen tour finished... we're called September On ( www.myspace.com/septemberon ) take care!
First saw you when opened for Amelia White in Boston back in 2005 and listened to your CD (twice) while trying to cross the GWB on the way home to Virginia. Been a fan since.
Like the new stuff. Only quibble is you need to tour the mid-Atlantic more.
"hi... it's soooo nice to meet you... i just wanted to say thank you for adding me . i really enjoed your music great voice.. take care and have a wonderful week. "
